Kurushimi no Yubiwa to Chiryou no Kubikazari
by chiisai hito
Summary: Daisuke tries to steal a ring. But little does he know that the ring wants to steal something as well. A soul. When Satoshi saves Daisuke, an adventure unfolds. SatoxDai
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Daisuke has a dream of a girl… And black tears… Satoshi gives Daisuke a warning, but hasn't Daisuke been through it all? Will Satoshi be able to save Daisuke from Agony's Ring?

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so… I hope you enjoy, and I want this to be the building block for anything else I may decide to write, kay? So if you wouldn't mind reviewing… And telling me what I can do…

Disclaimer: I do not, in fact, own D N Angel. -gasp-

* * *

Chuukoku to Yume

Daisuke sat bolt upright; opening his eyes wide, cold sweat covering his body. The boy drew his knees up to his chest. He was shivering slightly, though trying to calm his heart. He pulled his covers up to his chin and around his body trying to warm himself a little.

Dark woke up in Daisuke's head. "_Daisuke? What's up?" _Dark asked yawning

"_I just had a bad dream… Nothing…" _Daisuke replied, rubbing his palm against his forehead. He was trying to remember the dream… _There was a girl… And she cried black tears…_ That was all he could remember…

Daisuke had not fallen back asleep after his nightmare… Instead he sat on his bed looking out the window for what seemed like forever as Dark slept soundly inside his head. Morning had come and Daisuke was called from his bed, breakfast ready. The redhead entered the kitchen, yawning despite the fact that he'd been up for how many hours, fully awake and "ready to go".

"Hey Mom," Daisuke said with a little sigh.

"Dai? Hey sweetie," his mother replied, smiling widely while setting a plate on the already over-filled table.

"Wow, Mom… You made a lot…" Daisuke couldn't help but stare.

"I found an old cookbook of my mother's and decided to try some. I kept seeing things that looked so good!" Emiko exclaimed, holding up said cookbook for Daisuke to see. This made Daisuke feel bad for what he was about to say…

"I'm not really that hungry, Mom… I was just gonna grab a piece of toast and an apple or something and leave." Emiko pouted slightly and Daisuke gave in. "Oh, but it looks so good… I'll eat it anyways," Daisuke said, mentally banging his head on the wall, but Emiko squealed with happiness and pulled out Daisuke's chair for him. Daisuke, looking utterly beaten, sat down and began to eat…

* * *

Daisuke finally arrived at school, feeling like he could die. He couldn't escape the kitchen until at least half of the food was eaten… And the food there could've fed his entire class. He opened the door to his classroom, the defeated look still present in his face. Takeshi took this moment to charge Daisuke and catch the poor boy into a headlock.

"Daisuke! Thank god you're here! I need you to do something for me," Takeshi exclaimed while Masahiro shook his head in sympathy for Daisuke.

"Takeshi," Daisuke stared in a strained voice. "I can't breathe…" The redhead was trying a little half-heartedly to free himself for Takeshi's strangle-hold. Once the annoying one released him, Daisuke rubbed his neck and glaring a little asked, "What do you want?"

"Well…You know Dark's going to be taking the _Kurushimi no Yubiwa_, right?"

"Yeah…"

"I need you to take over my position on the sports committee so I can get ready. I'm getting a good deal on those pictures of Dark… The girls really seem to like them," Takeshi said, walking away before Daisuke even had a chance to reply. Satoshi, who had been watching, amused, in his seat, got up and walked towards the unlucky little redhead.

"Heh. How are you going to manage that?" Satoshi said, leaning against an empty desk.

"Ugh…" was all Daisuke could say.

"… Look… I don't think you should go tonight…" Satoshi said, looking at Daisuke pointedly.

"Huh?" Daisuke said, not understanding.

"Just… Don't take the ring… The _Kurushimi no Yubiwa_… Please…" Satoshi said in a whisper, looking around cautiously.

"Wha? Why?" Daisuke replied. Since when did Satoshi try and stop him _before_ he tried the theft…

"I just don't want you hurt," came the reply as Satoshi saw that Daisuke wouldn't listen and turned to go to his seat.

"_Hmm… Creepy Boy's being even creepier today," _Dark said, amused.

"_Hey… Don't call him that,"_ Daisuke protested.

"_Why? Because Creepy Boy likes you? Oh… Or maybe you like him."_ At this Dark started laughing at the idea, not really being serious.

"_Dark. Cut it out!"_

"_Wait, do you?"_

"… _NO!" _Daisuke screamed in his head, though he was blushing fiercely. He was all tensed up, standing next to his seat, fuming for some reason. He came back to earth after feeling the stares of some of his classmates and hearing a few giggles. He quickly sat down in his seat, blushing for a different reason. Even Dark was laughing in his mind.

"_If that's true, then why are you so uptight about it?" _Dark asked, torn between amusement and disgust.

"… _Anyways… I wonder what he meant by telling me not to steal it…" _Daisuke said, totally ignoring Dark's comment.

"_Heh… So you do like him. But yeah. I don't know," _Dark replied, mentally yawning and leaning back. _"I think I'm going to sleep. School is boring…"_

"…"

* * *

A/N: Yeah. So… I _really_ don't want to leave it at this, but I think I shouldn't start on the next part when this is such a good place to stop. Okay, so maybe it isn't, but I don't see any place better coming up.

So… This is, again, my first fanfic, and I know it's crappy. But I would love you forever if you reviewed it. I suppose I could add on even if I don't get any feedback… But I would like to know if at least _someone _likes it… Or hates it. And wants me to die for writing such a crappy story.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm so happy! Within a day I got a review for the first chapter! It motivated me so much; I just had to get this chapter up as soon as possible. Even though I had to modify it a lot because I just kept getting stuck...

Anyways... Yeah. Enjoy the story. Hope you like!

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own D N Angel.

Deai to Kuroi Namida

"_Dark! Shouldn't we even consider what Satoshi said?"_

"_Why? We're going to steal the damn ring anyways. We already sent the note."_

"_I have a bad feeling about this..."_

"_You have a bad feeling about everything"_

Dark was soaring through the night sky, blending quite well into the starry night, thankyouverymuch. The phantom thief spotted the roof of the Esviel Art Museum and lowered himself to touch down. "This place is always so easy to break into."

Dark pushed open the door to the featured exhibition. He ran in and waved to catch the attention of the two cops guarding the ring. "We need all hands on the roof! We found Dark! We need everyone we can get up there!" he yelled, changing his voice. He was dressed in police garb, with the cap pulled over his face to hide his eyes. He had also stuffed a lot of his hair into said cap.

"But we were told to stay here no matter what..." One of the real cops said.

"What's more important? Guarding this or catching Dark?" Dark asked pointedly.

"Uh..." The two cops looked at each other.

"Come ON!" Dark said, exasperatedly. "He's going to escape again! We need everyone we can get!" At that the two cops jetted out, heading for the roof.

"Finally."

"_It never ceases to amuse me that they always fall for the costume."_

"_I know... I'm thinking that the Azumano Police Force seriously needs help..." _

Dark approached the glass case holding the Kurushimi no Yubiwa. It was a very beautiful thing. It had a white gold band with a vine-like design. The back was solid with an illegible inscription that looked slightly scratched. The band diverged into 5 "vines", all of them intertwining in a complex design, not to mention having a light feathered texture to each vine. These 5 vines melded into a bezel for the gemstone. It was a large jewel. A diamond with 58 facets- a brilliant cut. It was obviously expertly cut, the way the facets caught the little light there was in that room. But in the sides that didn't catch the light, it looked nearly black. It was an odd contrast.

A burst of wind threw Dark back from the ring, knocking him into another display case. The case fell and the glass shattered, setting off an alarm. "Whoa! What the hell?" the thief exclaimed as a flash of light engulfed the room. It died down after a second and Dark, standing up, saw a tiny girl with the Kurushimi no Yubiwa on a chain around her neck.

That girl was an odd one. She had feathery white hair that reached her hips. She wore a long, old-fashioned gown that looked as if it had come from England in the 16th century. Her face was young and expressionless, but the oddest thing was her eyes. The irises were so light, they looked white.

"Where's my sister?" the girl asked, her voice echoing against the walls.

"Sister?" Dark asked.

"I WANT MY SISTER!" the girl screamed, another blast of air throwing the thief back. The room became unbearably stifling, choking the thief. Tears rimmed the girl's eyes and she walked towards the thief and stood in from of him. The tears started rolling down her cheeks, but oddly, once they touched her skin, they turned black. The air thickened even more.

"_My dream..." _Daisuke said from inside Dark's head.

Only Dark didn't reply. He had already fainted. Violet hair turned red as Daisuke took his place.

Satoshi was in the security office, watching the room where the Kurushimi no Yubiwa was located on the security camera. Once he saw Dark enter, he stood up. As the thief neared the ring, Satoshi ran off towards the room himself.

Daisuke had been left to face the crying girl himself. If Dark had trouble breathing, then Daisuke couldn't breathe at all. Daisuke fell on his knees, trying his hardest to breathe in the incredibly thick air, eyes watering, black spots erupting in his vision.

"_Oh damn... I don't want to die... Please let me not die..."_

The girl bent down and slid her hands under the redhead's chin. She lifted his face to look at it, still crying those unnatural black tears. "If you can't give me my sister, I'll take your soul..." she said, closing the gap between their faces. Tears were falling down Daisuke's face as well now, and he was sweating for lack of oxygen. The girl touched her lips to Daisuke's and a few black tears dripped onto his face.

Daisuke fainted as well.

Satoshi took one huge breathe and, holding it, threw open the door to the exhibit room. His eyes widened at the sight he saw before him- the girl lifting Daisuke's chin and kissing him. The commander charged into the room, eyes watering as well, and knocked into the girl he knew to be the embodiment of Kurushimi no Yubiwa. Caught off guard, the girl fell to the ground, all sprawled out. Satoshi picked up Daisuke, who had also fallen to the ground, hooking one arm under Daisuke's shoulders and the other under his knees. Once he was sure Daisuke wouldn't fall out of his arms, Satoshi fled the room. The Yubiwa had returned to its usual form, lying innocently on the ground.

A/N: So... I'm going to end it here. I was going to make it longer, but I suppose I won't. I hope to get a little fluffiness between Daisuke and Satoshi in the next chapter as well as explain a little more about the ring and her "sister". Please continue to read! It means the world to me! Oh and please review as well! It makes me so happy to know that people are actually reading this!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Please don't shoot me for that last chapter. I know it wasn't very good. This is, I hope, a much better installment. And it explains a lot more about the ring. Yay!

Also, I'm sorry about the super-long delay. In addition to mild writer's block, I also had a report and presentation due for my Japanese class. Joy. Also-If you have the language pack, good for you, you can read the kana and kanji in this next line! Whoot.

読んでください！(yonde kudasai!) 楽しみます！(tanoshimimasu)

Disclaimer: I do not own D N Angel. Nope... I don't...

Kaifuku

Satoshi stopped just before the door to the security box. Daisuke didn't look like he was breathing, so Satoshi set the redhead down and knelt down beside him. The commander placed his first two fingers on the side of Daisuke's neck, pressing slightly just behind the windpipe. Thank god there was still a pulse.

Satoshi then put a hand under Daisuke's nose and above his mouth to feel any breathing. There was none. Satoshi estimated that it had been 5 minutes the poor boy had been suffocated, and, once out of the dense atmosphere, lacked the strength to breath. Satoshi aligned Daisuke's head and back so that they were lying flat on the ground. He placed his hand on the redhead's forehead, pinched the boy's nose, opened the boy's mouth, took a rather deep breath and placed his lips securely over Daisuke's. He blew into Daisuke's mouth, watching Daisuke's chest rise with peripheral vision. Okay... Good.

Satoshi removed his mouth from Daisuke's and looked to the boy's chest, listening for air to rush out of the lungs. This was particularly hard for the commander... He was shaking- even his breath was sputtering. Loud and heavy. The boy was afraid.

Satoshi continued to give Daisuke mouth to mouth resuscitation- one breath every 5 seconds, finding tears streaming down his face. He kept checking Daisuke's pulse, growing more and more hopeful as it seemed to strengthen. Suddenly, after about a minute, Daisuke took a gasping breath, body tensing, and he let it out. Finally the red head could breathe on his own. The boy was still unconscious, therefore still needing to be monitored. Daisuke could stop breathing again at any moment.

Satoshi decided to take Daisuke to his apartment.

Daisuke was placed on Satoshi's bed, covers pulled up to the red head's chin. Satoshi continuously checked his pulse and checked the boy's temperature.

Daisuke finally coughed slightly, finding breathing rather painful. He opened his eyes and groaned. Or at least tried to. Suffocation definitely isn't pretty.

Satoshi snapped out of a daze, flying out of the chair he had pulled up near the bed so that he could keep a close watch on the redhead. Satoshi knelt down beside the bed and placed a hand on Daisuke's forehead, checking for a change in temperature. Daisuke started and sat bolt upright, instinctively squeaking in surprise. That hurt too. Daisuke had a coughing fit, his body trying to rid his throat of pain, but just making it worse.

"Daisuke! Calm down. Keep this up and you could seriously hurt yourself," Satoshi said, placing a hand on Daisuke's shoulder. This just made Daisuke freak out a little bit more.

"Hi-hiwatari kun?" Daisuke asked in a croak. He was rubbing his neck, wondering why in the hell it hurt so badly.

"Yeah?"

"What happened?"

"Long story. I'll tell you after you have a glass of water," Satoshi said standing up. "Don't move."

Satoshi returned with a glass of water for Daisuke. The commander positioned some pillows so that Daisuke could sit up without feeling extremely dizzy. Satoshi then sat down next to the patient and gave him the water.

"Take small sips. You might need to get use to swallowing again. I don't want you to drown right after being suffocated."

"Suffocated?"

"You don't remember? The Kurushimi no Yubiwa nearly killed you."

"Who?"

"_Does Daisuke seriously not remember, or does he not know that was who the girl was?" _Satoshi asked himself, watching Daisuke spluttering on his first sip of water.

"_You do know I don't really care. Just get on and do something with that wretch so I can get out," _Krad said, yawning.

"_Shut up and go to sleep or something. I wasn't talking to you," _Satoshi snapped back, his face hardening.

"_So you do acknowledge you like this boy?"_

"Shut up!" Satoshi shouted. Daisuke spat water into his glass and stared at Satoshi, feeling a bit hurt.

"_So rash. Fine. I shall be quiet. But know I will be watching and will take any chance I can get."_

"Sorry, Daisuke... I didn't mean you," Satoshi said, his face relaxing a bit. Daisuke nodded his head, deciding not to talk.

"So... Do you remember that girl?"

"The one with the black tears?" Daisuke asked

"Yeah..." Daisuke nodded. "Good," Satoshi said, smiling slightly. "Do you remember when I came in?" Daisuke shook his head. "I suppose you would like to know... And why you're here at my apartment?" Daisuke nodded, taking another sip of his water.

Satoshi told Daisuke of everything that had happened from the time he knocked the Ring to the ground to the minute of mouth to mouth resuscitation. Daisuke's face reddened considerably at that.

"How long?" Daisuke asked, voice a weird combination of raspy and squeaky.

"About a minute," Satoshi replied coolly. Daisuke whined slightly, face still a bright red. Satoshi ignored it.

"Why?" Daisuke asked. Satoshi sighed softly.

"I didn't want you to die." Satoshi replied simply.

Daisuke let it slid for a while. He was blushing quite badly though. Damn it that he was unconscious...

"So, what about this ring? What the hell is wrong with it?" Daisuke asked, fiddling with the bed sheets.

"Well, it is, of course, one of the Hikari's. One of my ancestors made it one hundred years ago about. It was for a girl he knew very well. That girl had a twin. He also made something for her. A necklace. The Chiryou no Kubikazari.

"As you well know, all of the Hikari artworks have magical properties. These had sealing properties. If they are worn by someone when they die, their soul can't move on. It's stuck with the piece of art. I don't think my ancestor really had control over what he was making, though..." Satoshi pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Well, these two died, of course wearing the art, so they imprisoned. Their souls took over the art, and the artwork grew into what it is today... What it can do today.

"According to what I have been told, my ancestor gave each of the sisters a part of a whole piece. The ring and necklace shouldn't have been separated. Since the twins died and their piece of art was found, each part has been regarded as a single piece and has been separated; flying to another museum every so often, the ring has grown cold. That's how it got its name. The Kurushimi no Yubiwa? The Ring of Agony. Its sister is, of course, the Chiryou no Kubikazari. The Necklace of Remedy. That one has not become so bitter, but waits for its sister in silence, with the ability to counteract the ring's activities. The activities you so nearly suffered," Satoshi took a deep breath. "Do you have any questions?" Why wasn't Satoshi a teacher? Oh yeah... The only one he had patience for is Daisuke...

"... I-I don't think so..."

A/N: I'm afraid to put up more at this time. It's getting really long. Oh, and if any one has questions, please ask them! I hope this chapter cleared up a lot of them, though... Oh... And sorry... Not too much fluffiness... .

Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: A'ight. Well, sorry for the long delay, but 1) I was pulling my hair out and crying for I reached a point where I hadn't planned out very well and got stuck... 2) was sick and couldn't think anyways (Still sick... Will probably always be sick -cries in the corner.-) 3) High school started and I've been run ragged trying to memorize me schedule and get all my supplies while trying to complete homework 4) The Japanese final was this Wednesday and I have needed to study because I really need to pass this class AND 5) My computer keeps crashing. -cries-

But my work shall come quicker I hope... Though I have dance starting up (Damn it! I don't wanna be in hip hop, Ms. Teacher Ma'am... e.e And where are my boys!), and I may be in theatre this year. Oh. And training for life guarding. -Nod, nod- Chiisai Hito needs a job. 'Cause Chiisai Hito is turning 16 soon.

Anyways, please enjoy. -Bow-

Disclaimer: Please do not think that I own these wonderful characters or the real story that goes with them.

(Page break... -cries-)

"So you do know what you have to do now," Satoshi said, looking meaningfully into Daisuke's eyes. Daisuke gulped slightly, eyes wider than American dinner plates.

"Not exactly...?" Daisuke asked, face becoming apologetic. Satoshi repressed a sigh.

"You have to get the necklace and take it to the ring."

"Oh... Wait... So where's the ring?"

"That's the problem. I don't know yet. The last I heard of it was when it was in Germany. That was about 3 years ago, and it's very likely it has moved since then. I shall find the museum and ask where it went from there. Until I find it, you should go home and recover..." Satoshi said, eyes directed at the wall near Daisuke's head.

"Isn't there anything I can do to help?" Daisuke said, moving so that he would be in Satoshi's direct view. Daisuke's eyes had widened significantly- he was feeling slightly hurt.

"I don't know Daisuke..." Satoshi said, redirecting his glance again.

"But you saved my life, and now you're helping me STEAL something!" Daisuke said, even more hurt since Satoshi looked away... Again. "Maybe I could like... Cook for you... Or clean or something..." Daisuke said, scrambling off the bed to dive into Satoshi's view again.

"No, I really don't thi-"

"DAMN IT SATOSHI! I'M DOING IT, OKAY?" Satoshi just raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"...Fine..."

"I DON'T CARE... Wait? You said fine?" Daisuke said, breaking off from his rehearsed argument, shocked.

"Yeah..." Satoshi replied, standing up.

"Oh..." Daisuke blushed slightly, edging towards the bed now that Satoshi was meeting his gaze now. Daisuke smiled cutely and Satoshi thought his heart would stop.

'Hmm. You're being careless, Master Satoshi,' Krad stated, sensing his moment was coming soon. (But mucking it up with that statement...) Satoshi ignored him.

"But you should rest now. I'll get you a phone. Your parents are probably worried," Satoshi finished as he left the room. Daisuke climbed back onto the bed, huffing slightly as he was still weak form nearly dying. He laid down waiting for Satoshi...

(A/N: Page Break... They won't work for me any more... It makes me cry.)

'Dear Master Satoshi... Why can't you just let your feelings take over?" Krad said as Satoshi left the room.

'You know why...' Satoshi wasn't in the mood to talk to Krad right now...

'So cold... How will you ever get that Niwa to like you if you always act so cold,' Krad said, hypocritically.

"Just stop, okay?" Satoshi mumbled under his breath, as close to blushing as he ever got. He found a cordless phone and stood up straight, pausing for a little.

'Why? Am I making you upset? You just can't admit that you like him."

'You're right...' Satoshi thought, becoming slightly dizzy. 'It would hurt too much...'

'That's right... But it hurts now, too, doesn't it?' Krad said in a mockingly comforting tone. He could tell he was winning.

'Y-yes...' Satoshi thought feeling helpless under Krad's influence. He lost control for a second and came crashing onto his knees, pale as a ghost, eyes wide and mouth agape.

'Then let me take over... I can make this all go away...' Krad said as his mental self engulfed his tamer's mental self...

(Page break)

Daisuke had been feeling Dark wake up in his mind. Well... The thief was okay. That was good... Right?

'Dark?' Daisuke asked softly into his mind.

'Mmmf... Daisuke?' Dark replied.

'Ah... Good... You're awake,' Daisuke said, smiling.

'Ye-' Dark was cut off by a thud outside the room. 'What was that?'

'I don't know,' Daisuke replied, hopping off the bed and hurrying out of the room.

"No! I know what you're doing!" Satoshi said as Daisuke entered the room. Daisuke was nearly thrown back by a sudden gust of wind. Satoshi's hair had grown longer, and it looked as if he was well on his way to transforming.

"I won't let you!" Satoshi exclaimed. Daisuke braced himself against any other sudden gusts of wind and hurried to Satoshi.

"Satoshi! What's happening?" Daisuke asked, though he knew full well. Satoshi looked at Daisuke, eyes wide and pained.

"Satoshi! Fight it! Don't let him win," Daisuke said, oblivious to the fact he might just make it worse. Daisuke knelt down right beside Satoshi and grabbed the other's shoulders. He hoped this would work...

"D... Daisuke..." Satoshi said his voice weak and his eyes wild. It wasn't working...

"Satoshi... Please! Don't let him out!" Daisuke said, eyes watering. Not ONLY could this be another death opportunity, but Daisuke could also lose his Satoshi.

'Let Creepy Boy go and run!' Dark wasn't helping and Satoshi's hair was growing much longer.

"No! I want to stay here!" Daisuke yelled out loud. Satoshi was growing taller as well.

"Daisuke..." Satoshi was gripping tightly to Daisuke's arms, afraid that if he let go, he would lose to Krad.

"Satoshi!" Daisuke replied, shaking the other slightly. Tears were streaming down his eyes now. Satoshi saw the tears and time seemed to stop. Satoshi felt as if his heart was ripping. Seeing Daisuke cry was like... having a bus run over you and back up over you, only to run right over you again. But for some reason, the tears allowed Satoshi to throw off Krad, pushing the angel to the deepest depths of his mind. Daisuke was now sobbing uncontrollably into Satoshi's chest, trembling for fear of his life and fear for Satoshi's. The redhead was grasping the other at the arms so tight that they nearly cut off circulation.

So Daisuke winced when Satoshi put an arm around him, pulling him closer. He looked fearfully up into Satoshi's face. An uncharacteristic smile graced the commander's face as he raised a hand to wipe one of Daisuke's cheeks.

"Thank you... Daisuke," Satoshi said. Daisuke broke down and flung himself onto Satoshi, wrapping his arms around Satoshi and causing them to fall sideways.

"Satoshi... I was so scared..."

"Daisuke..." The redhead was trembling still. Satoshi patted the top of the other's head awkwardly, pulling Daisuke up with him into a sitting position. Daisuke looked up and met Satoshi's eyes, his own bloodshot. "I don't know if you should stay here much longer."

"But why?"

"Because I don't want you hurt..." Satoshi looked away, pushing Daisuke away from him.

"But... I want to make sure you're okay..." Daisuke tried to resist the push.

"...Daisuke, The best way for you to make sure I'm okay... Is to stay away from me." Satoshi glanced at Daisuke.

"Why?" Daisuke was becoming irritated.

"Because... You are the key to my transformation..."

Daisuke could barely speak, but he managed a "W-what?"

"Daisuke... I love you..."

(Page break)

A/N: So... I'm sorry for the delay, but I, again, had serious trouble keeping up with my life. I also seem to be increasing the length of my chapters... Yey? I promise it won't always be this log that you have to wait. Except in November. That is NaNoWriMo, and I am entering, kay? Yeah. That will take up a lot of my time. Just to warn you! x.x

But seriously. If you think I'm slacking, send me a message. -nod, nod-

Review? Please? Make Chiisai Hito a happy person?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So I need to know if anyone would object to a tragedy ending. -

Also, sorry about the page breaks. I really don't like that they won't work for me any more.

I hope this chapter doesn't scare people away for its length...

Oh. And for your knowledge for useless stuff... I hate oil paints and they should never be. I accidentally bought them instead of acrylics, and I ended up trying to wash it out with water... I finally realized they were not, in fact, acrylics, but oils... So now I need to find turpentine and wait a week until I can touch my painting... And why do bugs seem to like the oil paint? Chiisai Hito has to keep picking them out of the paint.

Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: Now do you really think I would own D N Angel if the past 4 chapters have been written without me owning it? Yeah...

(Page break)

Nesturetsuna Kissu

熱烈なキッス

Daisuke nearly blacked out and for a minute he couldn't see. His pupils shrunk as his eyes widened and he focused on nothing. He definitely couldn't talk. Satoshi looked away from the redhead, a light pink touching his cheeks.

"Forget it..." Satoshi said, interpreting Daisuke's shock as disgust. "You should leave now..." Satoshi said as he stood up, leaving Daisuke on the floor. Daisuke was still speechless and kept opening his mouth as if to say something, not hearing anything else that came from Satoshi's mouth. Satoshi looked back at Daisuke with mild distaste. If the boy was going to reject him, couldn't he _say_ it instead of just ignoring the commander? Satoshi never really expected his feelings to be returned, though...

"What?" Daisuke finally said in a horse whisper. "What did you say?"

"I said nothing."

"No... You said... You love me?" Daisuke was still staring off at nothing. He wasn't sure he heard right. Even Dark was being silent. The Kaitou was shocked as well.

"What of it?" Satoshi nearly snapped at Daisuke. He started for his room. He needed to cool off.

"I-i... Love you too..." Daisuke said in a voice barely audible, finally looking at Satoshi. His eyes focused again, though they now looked apologetic... Satoshi stared back, his turned to be unsure of what the other said.

"You what?" Satoshi asked, stopping.

"I love you too," Daisuke repeated, standing up. He walked over to Satoshi standing awkwardly in front of the taller boy. He didn't know what to do now that he confessed, though...Obviously Satoshi didn't either as they stared at each other for about 2 minutes. Satoshi finally pulled Daisuke to him and held him.

"I can't believe you..." Satoshi said, burying his face in the redhead's hair. "This can't be happening..." Daisuke looked up as best he could, wrapping his arms around Satoshi's waist.

"It's true. I can't believe it either... But it's true," Daisuke said in a whisper. The world that had, earlier, seemed so dark and frightening took on a sparkly, pale tone... As if it were a dream. Satoshi leaned down a little so that his lips touched Daisuke's. He quickly pulled away, unsure of how to go about this. Daisuke had turned a bright red by now that had deepened about 10 shades with the little peck. But Satoshi must have thought that shade was just a might too pale, as he gathered his courage and placed his lips on the redhead's again, closing his eyes. Daisuke's lips trembled under Satoshi's and he shivered when he felt Satoshi's tongue peek between them. Satoshi pulled back again, opening his eyes halfway.

"Am I going too fast?" he asked, voice low.

"N... no..." Satoshi smiled and went back in for the kiss. Daisuke obediently opened his mouth when Satoshi poked his tongue through his lips. Satoshi made a sound full of pleasure that vibrated in Daisuke's chest and the redhead shivered also in pleasure. Satoshi's tongue tried to coax Daisuke's into a dance. Daisuke returned the pleasure and poked his tongue into Satoshi's mouth. Daisuke finally relaxed and let the emotion sweep him up.

'Daisuke! Be careful! I don't want to end up kissing Creepy Boy, okay?' Dark said from inside Daisuke's head. That certainly ruined Daisuke's mood and he pulled out of the kiss and out of Satoshi's arms with a look of disappointment and distaste on his face.

'Thanks, Dark...' Daisuke thought sarcastically.

'Well, if you kept going on like that, I was sure to pop out kissing the creep. You enjoyed it for god's sake! After you got over the shock, that is.'

"Daisuke?" Satoshi asked, not letting his hurt show on his face. That look Daisuke had when he pulled away... Was he angry at Satoshi?

"Huh? Satoshi?" Daisuke asked pulling his mind out of the conversation he was having with Dark. It clicked in his brain that he might have been rude to pull away like that. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry... Dark just..."

"Oh..." An awkward silenced followed and Daisuke grew redder each second. After a while, Satoshi walked into another room leaving Daisuke to Dark. It was a pity it might only last so long... Satoshi couldn't hold Krad back for long.

(Page Break)

All that ended at 2 AM, and after 15 minutes, Daisuke fell asleep on Satoshi's couch. Satoshi had been cooling off in his room, and when he came out to Daisuke, he found the boy asleep on the couch. Satoshi pulled a blanket over the redhead, lightly kissed him on the forehead, and went back to his room to sleep.

At 7'o clock, Satoshi woke up to his alarm and sat in a daze for a while. Daisuke woke up as well to the distant sound of the alarm and reached over his body to hit the snooze. The redhead ended up rolling off the couch and onto the floor with a thump. That woke the redhead up and he raised himself on his hands and looked around.

'Wait... This is Satoshi's apartment... Oh yeah... So it wasn't a dream...'

'Keep it quiet,' Dark replied sleepily.

"Fine... I'm going to tell Satoshi I need to get home." Daisuke stood up and walked to Satoshi's room and put an ear to the door. He couldn't hear anything, so he pushed the door open a little and peered in. There was Satoshi on his bed, staring at his clock, eyes vacant. As Daisuke inched into the room, Satoshi slowly looked up to him without the slightest sign of recognition. Or caring, for that matter.

"Satoshi?" Daisuke asked softly. Satoshi only stared. "Satoshi!" Daisuke asked a bit louder, getting scared. Daisuke clambered to Satoshi's bed and held Satoshi close to him as if this were the last time he would ever see the commander. "Satoshi! What's wrong? Wah!" Daisuke started to sob into Satoshi's shoulder and Satoshi didn't so much as acknowledge the poor boy's presence. Daisuke sobbed himself into a sleep and ended up asleep in Satoshi's lap, arms loosely around Satoshi's waist.

Satoshi finally pulled out of his daze and looked down at the redhead in his lap. "Daisuke!" he asked, jumping slightly with shock and causing Daisuke to wake up again.

"Mmmf? Satoshi? Satoshi! You're okay!" Daisuke exclaimed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The boy flung his arms around Satoshi in relief, and Satoshi looked at the boy as if he were mad.

"What are you talking about?" Satoshi asked.

"Well, you wouldn't respond to me when I came in to tell you that I was going to go home..."

"Oh... Well... I have trouble waking up... So it's nothing to worry about."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

(Page break)

Daisuke ended up having to run to his house to change his clothes before going to school again. Once he entered the house, he was attacked by his mother hugging him and screaming about how worried she was.

"Daisuke! I can't believe you didn't come home last night! Where were you?"

"Mom! Ah! I forgot to call you! I was going to..."

"DAISUKE! Tell me where you were and why you weren't here!"

"Well... The ring tried to kill me, and Hiwatari-kun saved me, so he took me to his apartment to monitor me..."

"The ring tried to kill you?"

"Well... Actually, take my soul."

"WHAT!"

"But I'm fine thanks to Hiwatari-kun."

"And you were at his house all last night?"

"Uh... Yeah..."

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU HE WAS TROUBLE? AND TO KEEP AWAY FROM HIM!"

"But Mom, he was the one that took me there! I was unconscious."

"And he didn't take you to a hospital?"

"How would he answer the doctors' questions on how I came to be unconscious? A ring tried to suffocate me?"

"Then he should have lied!"

"Tell that to him, not me!" Daisuke was getting exasperated, and he was running short on time to get to school. "Look. I have to get to school now."

"Fine. But I want you to come home right after school. We have to decide what to do now."

"I think Hiwatari-kun is going to do that."

"WHAT!" exclaimed Emiko, but the problem was... Daisuke wasn't listening and had already climbed the steps to his room. A few minutes later, he rushed down, clad in a clean school uniform and ready to leave. He ignored anything else his mom said and replied simply to everything with:

"See you later, Mom!"

(Page break)

A/N: Whew. Actually finished that chapter in a short period of time... Amazing!

- I guess it's because I don't have Japanese any more. Yay for no more college until summer! Yay for starting to start driving lessons and such! Yay for my half-birthday! Boo for 9/11.

Anyways, thanks for reading as always, and please stick with me! I planned on making this a more... action-y chapter... But it ended up being slightly fluffy. Funny how that works, eh? Mean to make it action-y and it ends up fluffy... Try and make it fluffy, there's a lot of action! -

おもしろいですね。(omoshiroi desu ne.　（ interesting, isn't it.）)

Please review! And thanks for hanging in through this chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Konnichiha! How're you? - I'm baaa-aaack. xD Now how about that? -

Anyways, enjoy.

Much love and thanks,

Chiisai Hito. (And I do not lie!)

Disclaimer- Seriously… You HAVE to believe me. I am in no way, shape, or form connected to the making of the D N Angel manga series, NOR am I associated with the anime.

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

Nani?! Watashi-tachi ha engurando ni ikimasu ka?!

何？！私たちはえんグランドに行きますか？！

Satoshi didn't show up for school that day. It didn't really surprise Daisuke that much. Satoshi was probably at his apartment finding out where that necklace was.

Daisuke's teacher had asked him to take Satoshi the work he missed. Lucky. Another excuse to talk to the other.

Daisuke was standing at the door to Satoshi's apartment, sighing slightly. He knocked and waited a bit while Satoshi came to the door. When the commander opened the door, Daisuke nearly gasped. Satoshi looked so pale!

"Satoshi! What's wrong?" Daisue asked, the little over-reactor…

"Oh… It's nothing. Come in," Satoshi said.

"Ah! Thank you. I brought your class work…" Daisuke said as he followed Satoshi inside.

"Thanks…" His reply was soft as if he were tired. "I found where the necklace is…" he trailed off.

"Really? That's great! Where?" Daisuke said sitting down in the couch that Satoshi motioned him to. Satoshi still stood, eyes averted.

"…England."

"… England?" Daisuke asked to confirm. Satoshi nodded, going to his laptop, having not looked at Daisuke in the face ever since he let the boy in.

"So… I have to go to England to get it," Daisuke asked.

"Well, it's not expected to come back to Japan for another… 15-20 years. I think Dark will be gone by then," Satoshi replied.

"When am I going?"

"I was waiting for you to ask that. Come here," Satoshi said, pulling up a website on his laptop. Daisuke obeyed and scrambled over to where Satoshi was.

"Nippon Airlines?" Daisuke asked.

"How do you expect to get to England if not by air? Realistically."

"Right…"

"Alright. They have service to England for this weekend, takeoff at 6:00 am. It's a 10-hour flight; time changes should make it about 9:00 am when you arrive. What do you think of that?"

"Um… Alright… But am I going to miss school?"

"Maybe. I don't know how long it's going to take in England. I think you'll have to survey the area… For the best way out. You'll have to figure a way back, because they might find the necklace with your things at airport security," Satoshi said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Wait… You don't know how I'm getting back?"

"No…"

'WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?! TRECK MY WAY BACK TO JAPAN?! WALK?!' Daisuke exclaimed in his mind, exasperation seeping from his whole being. "So what am I supposed to do?" It was rather harshly said

"I don't know yet. That's why I'm coming with you." Satoshi was so calm in saying this, and Daisuke nearly bugged out. He was going to England with Satoshi? Is this a dream come true? Or a nightmare just waiting to happen? All Daisuke knew was that his mother wasn't going to be very happy… Not happy at all…

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

Daisuke arrived at home, plagued by the usual obstacle course set up by his mother, only to find said mother waiting somewhat miffed at the end.

"Why are you late?" Emiko asked, tapping her foot slightly in agitation.

"The teacher asked me to give a classmate some homework…" Daisuke replied, backing away from his sure-to-explode mother and towards the flight of stairs that would take him to his room.

"Which classmate?"

"Satoshi- eh, err… I have to go do some homework, bye," Daisuke said hurriedly as he turned and fled to his room. He did not handle pressure well… The poor, poor boy…

"I thought I told you to keep away from him!" Emiko yelled up the stairs.

"Not my fault! Teacher asked me to bring him his homework!" came the reply from out of Emiko's sight.

Ouch… How was Emiko going to take that?

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

Emiko called Daisuke to dinner, her voice forced with cheerfulness. Daisuke winced slightly at the sound, but he closed his math book and went downstairs anyways. He sat down as Emiko slammed a dish down onto the table, sloshing some of the broth she had made for sukiyaki. A mixture of soy sauce and other ingredients had stained the white tablecloth brown where it had hit, but Emiko was too busy shooting daggers at her son with her eyes to notice.

'Great. How am I going to tell her I'm going to England with Satoshi?' Daisuke asked in his head, furrowing his brows. Emiko was flitting around in a sour mood, getting everything out for sukiyaki and putting it all on the table… Raw eggs… Raw beef… Raw vegetables… And of course, the Japanese' favorite side dish—rice.

'How should I know?' Dark replied nonchalantly. Everything was on the table and everyone in the family was sitting down to eat.

'That doesn't help, you know…' Daisuke said, putting the thin slices of raw beef and the vegetables into the simmering soy sauce concoction to cook, then cracking open 2 raw eggs, putting them into a bowl, and stirring them until the yokes broke.

'Yeah, yeah. So just go and don't tell Emiko,' Dark offered. Daisuke made a sour face as he took out one of the pieces of beef that had cooked already. He plopped it into the raw egg and took it back out to eat.

'Yeah, and when I get back, I can DIE for running away. That'll work,' Daisuke thought with sarcasm, stuffing the beef into his mouth and chewing slowly.

"Well… How else are you going to get to England? If you told her, she'd flip and say no in a heartbeat.'

'Maybe I'll tell Dad… He seems to accept Satoshi more…' Daisuke sighed and set down his raw-egg-filled bowl and picked up his rice.

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

That dinner was certainly a quiet one, and after 30 minutes of completely silent eating, Daisuke asked to be excused. Daisuke climbed his way back to his room and worked on math for another 30 minutes… Not that he got much done. He was too busy thinking about how he was going to get to England and not have his mother totally flip out on him. Dark didn't help Daisuke's concentration for his comments about "creepy boy".

Daisuke slid out of his room and went to his father's desk, where Kosuke was working on something-or-other about Dark, Daisuke supposed.

"Hey, Dad?" Daisuke said quietly so as not to make his dad jump. It didn't work, as Kosuke jumped and spun his chair around to see Daisuke there.

"Oh, Daisuke, It's you… Don't sneak up on me like that," Kosuke sighed as he leaned back into his chair. Daisuke stood a little awkwardly in front of his father, wondering how to begin.

"Sorry… Um… You remember that ring I was supposed to steal?" Kosuke nodded. "There's another part to it. A necklace. And Satoshi wants to get it back with the ring." Kosuke nodded again, not looking surprised. "Well… The ring's in England, and we don't know when it's coming back to Japan, so… Satoshi's booked us two tickets to England for this weekend."

"So you want to go to England with your friend and get the necklace?" Daisuke nodded, looking slightly anxious. "Alright."

"Wait… So you're saying I can go?" Daisuke looked surprised… Even if his dad was more open to Satoshi that him mother… England was still a long ways away.

"I don't see why not… But your mother… Especially with that boy." Daisuke nodded, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

"That's why I asked you," Daisuke said, opening his eyes "Could you maybe get her to be okay with it?"

"I'll try." Was the reply.

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

Satoshi had eaten alone and was back on his laptop. Clicking the "x" on another on of those pop-up adds. But more importantly, working on a way to get back from England. This was a challenge if ever there was one.

Satoshi suddenly felt a wave of icy-hotness flash through his body. He put his computer into sleep mode and hustled to his bed. He collapsed onto it as black specks threatened to take over his vision and force him into unconsciousness. What the hell was wrong with him? …Was this Krad's doing? …What the hell was the angel _doing_ to him? Besides killing him, of course.

Satoshi slid into unconsciousness as these thoughts revolved in his mind. Krad chuckled quietly in the back of his tamer's head.

'Dear Satoshi… You know I love you…' The tamer said into Satoshi's unconscious mind as his essence pulsed through Satoshi's whole being. 'And you know I need you more than anything. You are my life…'

If only Satoshi could respond to the lies that filled his mind. If only he could stop Krad from ruining his life…

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

A/N: Sorry about the wait. Major writer's block for a while. But I think I'm over it. Yay! And it's still 2006. Yay!

So I found out I'm starting piano lessons again and I might be forced into Piano competitions. As if dance competitions weren't enough. I think my parents love the fact that we don't have enough room for all the useless trophies I've won and want to intensify the feeling. –cries- So yeah… I'm going to have to learn seven 5th level piano pieces and play them flawlessly. –cries some more-

Anyways, Homecoming was this weekend, and we lost our game. How pathetic. And we were 6-and-0. –shakes head in disbelief-

Oh- and yey for me. I know how this is going to end. And it's going to be so –squee- for me, that I'll just die. - Hahaha. And --STUPID COMPUTER! THAT IS PERFECTLY GRAMMATICAL! THAT SOOO IS NOT A SENTENCE FRAGMENT! –huff, huff- (Sorry. Chiisai Hito needed to get that out… Every third word that Hito wrote, the green squiggly came back to haunt Hito. There was a subject and a verb. It was a sentence.) (In case you wanted to know… The sentence was "Emiko called Daisuke to dinner, her voice forced with cheerfulness".)

Get ready for a plane ride peoples!


	7. Chapter 7

Omoshiro-kunai Desu…

面白くないです。

Satoshi hadn't gone to school the whole week. Which meant Daisuke was taking Satoshi his work every day after school. Which also meant that Daisuke got to see how Satoshi was deteriorating.

Satoshi's eyes had grown extremely dark and dull- there wasn't even any real emotion in them that had to be covered up. Satoshi just seemed to be. That was it. There was no rhyme or reason to him anymore, it seemed.

Daisuke was kind of afraid that Satoshi wouldn't be well enough for the trip, but whenever Daisuke mentioned anything, Satoshi just brushed it off saying he was fine and that it was just a cold as he printed out maps and local information about London, England.

Overall, the week went pretty slow for Daisuke, who was anticipating the trip to England with a little dread. After all, he was going to be alone with Satoshi in a foreign country on another continent when he just kind-of knew how to speak their language trying to steal a necklace in unfamiliar territory and then having no plan as of yet on how to get back to Japan.

Kosuke had talked to Emiko, and finally she was forced to agree to the idea of her son going to England with their clan's sworn enemy. That being after a good many fights broke out… So now Emiko was packing for Daisuke, making sure he had good clothes, a way to wash them, coats, scarves, soap, other toiletries, and even mace. "Just in case that Hikari boy tries anything," she had said when he stared at her like she had three heads. Of course, her explanation caused her son to slap his hand to his forehead before trying to convince Emiko that Satoshi was, indeed, not going to do anything.

Satoshi had gone ahead and paid to get 20 0000 yen converted to pounds. It was probably a surplus amount, but hey… They might actually need a lot. And he was also going to take a good amount of yen in case they needed more money.

He paid for the fast delivery of the money, so on Thursday he walked to the bank to retrieve the money. Now they were set for England.

Only, Daisuke had to get up at about 4:00 a.m. Saturday. Satoshi didn't have that much of a problem. Satoshi just wouldn't sleep that night. It wasn't worth going to sleep for 3 or 4 hours, after all.

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

Saturday, 4:00 a.m.- Daisuke got up whining about how the sun wasn't even up yet. Dark yelled at the redhead, also thinking that it was just too early to be disturbed. Daisuke snapped back, but it fell on deaf ears, so Daisuke let it drop and he headed for the shower. After that, he slipped into the bath for about 15 minutes, trying to rest up as much as he could. Satoshi was up and about, typing a few last things on his computer.

Coincidentally, the two left their respective houses at the same time- 4:45 a.m. Daisuke went with his family, as Emiko and Daiki just didn't want to stop fussing about him, making sure he had everything, making sure his passport was safe and with him, making sure that he had enough stuff to do on the plane… Frankly, Daisuke felt about ready to smash his mother's and grandfather's heads together. Isn't he just a bright little ray of sunshine in the very early morning?

Satoshi just called a cab, and while Satoshi was nice and calm and collected, the driver seemed a bit… Well… Unaccommodating to say the least. He was snappy and looked as if he wanted to just fling himself back into his warm bed back at home with nice, fluffy, warm comforters held protectively at his chin. Satoshi chose to ignore him.

They arrived at different times, though. Satoshi was first. After all, he wasn't the one with the family that made him miss the train and end up having to call a cab as well. Satoshi went through security all right. He had no carry-on.

Satoshi just waited for Daisuke in the boarding area reading a book, as it was now 5:30. They had already started the boarding process, but no one was getting on the plane just yet. Daisuke tumbled into the area at about 5:40, lugging a carry-on bag that was just under the maximum size. His family had seen him off at security, as they didn't have a ticket and couldn't go past that point.

Satoshi looked at Daisuke as he stumbled near, holding his ticket in his hand.

"Satoshi! Sorry I'm late! I missed the train a-"

"It's okay… The plane hasn't taken off," Satoshi cut Daisuke off before the redhead started into a long rant about whatever had happened to make him late.

"Oh… Okay," Daisuke said as a lady over the speaker said something in English. Some other lady translated it into Japanese right after.

"Seats number 45-50 please board the plane…" They repeated. Daisuke stood awkwardly in front of Satoshi, knowing that if he sat down, he would just have to get up again. Satoshi just went back to reading his book.

After about 15 minutes, the redhead and commander were called to board their seats. Satoshi had booked them seats 12 A and B, so they could sit together and not be uncomfortable. Satoshi got the window seat. Daisuke, the lucky dog, got to sit next to some strange lady that had immediately taken a disliking to the redhead once she laid eyes on him… That stare… It was just so… Icy-hot. Cold enough to freeze any action, hot enough to burn you from even attempting to talk to her. She had the aisle seat, and Daisuke assumed that he wasn't going to be getting up on this trip…

Satoshi leaned his head against the side of the plane, eyes closing as two flight attendants went over the safety procedures in both English and Japanese. Daisuke, the little goof, paid absolute attention to this.

The plane took off, and Daisuke was already on the verge of tears for his circumstances. Satoshi just fell asleep.

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

The two arrived in England, Satoshi awake and actually moving, as he had been woken up about halfway into the flight by a girl going into hysterics just behind him. Apparently, she had been given medicine to calm her down, but it wore off… Not that he responded right away, anyways. He dazed out the window for the rest of the flight. Daisuke on the other hand had been jolted out of a daze of self-pity. He got the whole story from the parents behind them trying to find something to calm the poor girl down.

Poor Daisuke's trials included having to go to the bathroom about 5 hours into the flight, but being too scared to ask the lady to move until his bladder felt ready to explode. She glared at him and sat there for about 2 minutes, apparently think whether she should let him pass… But eventually let him go… Lucky for Daisuke. And for her, for that matter. But once he got back, she wouldn't let him get up again.

Also, breakfast was served near the end of the flight, and Daisuke felt about ready to die for lack of food. Satoshi ignored the crappy airline food… But then again, he never ate properly, and flying on a plane doesn't help the appetite. Not one bit.

There was no end to the boredom and inssuferability of that flight… But at least it was over. Now they were in England, and the could check into their hotel… And finally have some well-earned sleep.

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

They hailed a cab and Satoshi said, in good English, "_To the Hamilton Hotel, please._"

"_Right_," the cabby said as the two climbed in. "_Shouldn't you two be with your parents?_" he asked, turning to get a good look at them.

"_No. Now please take us to the hotel_," Satoshi replied rather icily.

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They arrived at the hotel, and Satoshi paid the rather flustered cabdriver his wares as Daisuke bounded up to the door. Satoshi soon joined him and they entered, heading for the front desk. They checked in and a bellboy took them up to their room.

"_Here you are, then… Would you be needing anything else, sirs?_"

"_No, thank you_," Daisuke replied before Satoshi got all icy on this guy's arse.

"_Right. Just ring if you need anything. Good day_," the bellboy said as he bowed slightly and left. Daisuke bowed back out of habit.

Daisuke turned around and gaped at the room. "It's so big!" he exclaimed while Satoshi just nodded and pulled his suitcase over to a cupboard. But then… "Satoshi… Wasn't this supposed to be a two-bed room?"

"They were all booked," was the nonchalant reply.

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

Daisuke and Satoshi fell asleep for a little while. They needed some actually sleep after riding in a very uncomfortable plane with very little moving space and very little leg room. Daisuke was still ruffled by the fact that Satoshi had booked a one-bed room… But he got over it soon enough and even cuddled a bit with Satoshi. Ah, the cuteness of it all.

Satoshi, of course, woke up first, but dazed for his usual half hour, so really, Daisuke, who woke up 15 minutes-or-so after Satoshi, was the first one conscious. Daisuke still wasn't comfortable with Satoshi's little creepy daze thing, so he busied himself with rummaging through his luggage and pulling out various items. Like the mace… And a "creep stick".

"Gees, mom… He's not going to try to kill me…"

'How do you know that,' Aw, darn… That pesky little phantom thief was back.

'Dark! You're awake. I almost forgot about you.'

'I feel loved. How could you forget about me?' Daisuke put away the mace and creep stick.

'Yeah, seriously…' Daisuke said as he pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

'Hey! Is that an insult?' Dark asked as he peaked at what Daisuke was doing.

'So when do you want to survey the museum?' Daisuke asked, closing his suitcase and setting the clothes on top.

'You have a habit of changing the subject, don't you? Fine. I think today, after Creepy wakes up,' Dark yawned, mentally leaning back in a relaxed pose.

'Why do you and Mom think he's a creep?' Daisuke just couldn't understand it.

''Cause he is,' Dark said before falling back to the recesses of Daisuke's mind.

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A/N: Before I get complaints, I must say this- At least you got this chapter BEFORE NaNoWriMo, and not after. XD

Yeah. So don't expect to see me again for another month… I'm sorry to say, but I shall be devoting every moment I have to writing a wonderful 50,000-word novel. And guessit! I'm gonna start a new fanfic. Hooray. Oh, and don't worry. I'm not forgetting this one. I won't be able to get rid of the ending from now on… so I have to write it. And that means I have to finish this.

Ha. So I shouldn't try and make sense. I mean, I haven't made sense for the last 15.5 years of my life. Why should I start now?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving to my dear American friends, as I will not be able to tell you when it actually comes around.

Oh… And sorry, my dear Brits… I don't know much about London, so don't kill me!

Our football team didn't make it to the playoffs… -cries in the corner-

--Chiisai Hito.


	8. Chapter 8

闇のドロボウ

Yami no Dorobou

"But... Why don't they have a separate room for the toilet and shower? ...I miss Japan," Daisuke said as he walked out of the bathroom, towel over his shoulders, with nothing but boxers on.

"We'll go back as soon as we figure out how we can. Also, we need to think of _why _we came too. We haven't even gone to the museum yet," Satoshi said, looking up from his book. He was sitting in a chair with a lamp gleaming over his shoulder. It was 5 AM, but to Daisuke and Satoshi, it kind of felt like it was 2 PM. Hardly the time to sleep.

"So do you have any ideas on how to get back to Japan?" Daisuke asked, flopping onto the bed that had just been made and messing it up again.

"Well... We could go on a boat part of the way. Maybe we can trek across Europe and Asia to get to Japan?"

"...How long will that take?" Daisuke asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Oh... Probably over two weeks," Satoshi said, shrugging.

"Two weeks?!" Daisuke asked, sitting bolt upright and nearly throwing himself off the bed.

"That is, if we go nonstop. Most of the time we will be taking trains. We will probably have to transfer more than 5 times. I haven't looked up the train system here in Europe, nor have I looked up the time schedules, though I will look them up today, most likely." Satoshi certainly didn't seemed bothered by this.

"Good... Being in Europe is kind of strange," Daisuke said, obviously a little close-minded to being in a different country. "But... Two weeks!"

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

The two had left for the museum at about 9 AM. To Daisuke's mild surprise and slight annoyance, the museum was but a few blocks away- easily walked to. This was because of Satoshi's strategic hotel planning. (Even more strategic was getting a one-bed room. Yeah. He lied about all the two-bedders being full up.)

Daisuke insisted that they have "breakfast" at a quaint little café opposite the museum. They spent about thirty minutes there, Daisuke making small talk (or trying to. Satoshi isn't much for small talk...) as they sipped cups of coffee and ate a coffee cake or two.

After their lovely meal, Daisuke and Satoshi went to the museum to get a feel for the place, look at the types of locks and security systems, what it would take to disable them, and all things of that nature. Satoshi had pulled blueprints out of the air... Er... Computer (hacking skills), but Daisuke wanted to actually feel how the museum was laid out. Sure, the blueprint would help later when the three decided how the burglary would go down, but for now, they went through the exhibits.

The necklace was in a room on the second floor- the main exhibit room on that floor, though it was not the "main" feature. That belonged to a collection of rich Chinese jewelry from about 300 years ago. Apparently it was an exhibit for somewhat recent oriental jewelry.

Daisuke, being raised by a family of art thieves and himself loving art, walked along the cases, staring at the different metals and stones and beads and ceramic pendants and the like until he came upon the Chiryou no Kubikazari. The necklace of healing. It had a warm feel about it- the opposite of the ring. Yet it looked so like the ring with its twisting vines for a chain and a large brilliant cut diamond as the pendant.

The strange thing about the cut on this diamond, though, was that every facet caught the light and there was none that appeared to reflect blackness as in the Kurushimi no Yubiwa.

Satoshi had been sitting on a bench, looking around the room and taking note of every security alarm and camera there was in the room while still looking inconspicuous. After giving the room a thorough look-over, he went over to Daisuke who was still ogling over the necklace that they were to steal.

"_We should continue on... We don't want to waste all day looking at this necklace, even if it is pretty_," Satoshi said in English once Daisuke looked up at him. For a second, Daisuke looked confused, then nodded. It wouldn't do to just look at the thing they were going to steal now, right? They had to look interested in other things... After all, the necklace _was_ going to disappear that night and the police were sure to look over every tape and question every person who looked interested in it.

"_Alright. Ah... Let's go to the Egyptian art room_," Daisuke said, smiling.

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The went back to the hotel around 6 PM. Even Satoshi was tired.

"You know I'm not coming with you to steal the necklace, right?" Satoshi asked as he sat down in the chair by the lamp.

"What? B-but..." Daisuke stuttered. He thought that Satoshi was actually going to help him _steal_ the necklace. He had draped himself over the bed again, hugging a pillow tight to his chest.

"I can't exactly change my appearance as you do... We don't want Krad to come out..." Satoshi said, looking at the wall.

"No... But can't you just change your appearance and _not_ let Krad out?" Daisuke said, moving so that he'd be in Satoshi's view.

"It would be hard. Chances are that Krad would have an easier time taking over my body because I'm in his. All he would have to do is push aside my mind... I don't want to risk your safety... Neither do I want to risk mine..."

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It wasn't like Satoshi to cry, but that's exactly what he was doing. Oh it hurt so badly. Why did he have to share a body with this demonic angel? Why was he tortured so?

Satoshi had tried to push Krad to the back of his mind. The demon was killing him. Killing his mind, that is. Every day it was harder and harder to control himself. Being so close to Daisuke yet having to keep his hands off... Being unable to look the boy in the eyes anymore. These next two weeks about would be torture. But... For once he could help Daisuke. And two pieces of Hikari Artwork as well. He knew this was for the best... Yet... He still didn't like the idea of his family's artwork being stolen. And he, of course, didn't like Dark. Heh. The demon angel had made an effect on Satoshi after all.

Now, since Daisuke had gone out to steal the necklace as Dark, all the feelings he had bottled up for the past two day came spilling out and he had locked himself into the bathroom trying as hard as he could to keep Krad inside.

'Satoshi... I can make this all go away if you'd just Let. Me. Have. This. Body," Krad said, prodding the other's mind with acid tendrils, trying to take hold of Satoshi's consciousness.

'No, Krad... I can't let you do that... I can't let you hurt anyone... I can't let you hurt Daisuke...' Satoshi thought as he fell back against the bathroom wall and slid down.

'See what he has made you, Satoshi-sama? See what he has done to you?'

'He hasn't done this to me,' Satoshi thought leaning his head back against the wall. With every once of strength he had left, he forced Krad back to the edges of his mind. 'You have...'

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'So... Creepy's actually helping us out? He's actually not going to come after us for stealing his precious family's artwork?' Dark thought as he soared high in the air. He looked rather like a bird from the ground... That is, it you could even see him against the black sky.

'Why'd you fly so high? The museum's just right there,' Daisuke replied, ignoring Dark's questions whilst pointing mentally to the museum. He was used to Dark and his mother bagging on Satoshi, though he knew it wasn't right and that it was just the demon inside of Satoshi that everyone _really_ hated.

'Because I haven't flown in what seems like forever, that's why,' Dark replied, smirking. He did a little swoop to strengthen his statement.

'Don't give me that crap,' Daisuke snarled. It was really, really early in the morning for his mind and he hadn't slept since 5 AM in England. He was allowed to be irritated.

'Heh. Anyways, d you think Krad's going to come after us? What if this is some huge scam or trap or something and Satoshi's actually planning to capture me?' Dark wasn't so bad off. He had used the whole day to sleep off the minor jetlag he had incurred from being in Daisue's mind whilst traveling so far in a very short amount of time.

'I trust him,' Daisuke said as Dark lowered himself in the sky, hoping to not be seen. The group hadn't even left a sweet little note to warn people of the burglary. They didn't want anyone to know that he was coming, for once. That would just make it harder to leave the country, maybe. In every case, it would be hard to leave, actually.

Dark alighted on the rooftop of the museum and headed for an air duct. After looking at the pipe ways on the blueprints, he was sure he could navigate through them proficiently.

5 seconds of prying and the grate on the air duct was off and the thief slid in. Hopefully luck would be with him.

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The theft had gone well. The thief held to his name with pride. No alarms, avoiding cameras. He even got the case open easy enough. Another plus- the necklace wasn't homicidal like its sister. Oh! And lets not forget that Krad hadn't come. It was a peaceful burglary for once. Which didn't sit well with Dark, of course.

Dark had a harder time getting back to the hotel... He still didn't want to be seen and he would be flying to the hotel window to get in. Lucky it was the dead of night and everyone was pretty much asleep or wasn't paying attention to the dark sky. He lighted on the balcony just outside the slide-open glass door and picked his way into the room.

Bed sheets were thrown onto the floor, the lamp was knocked down, but luckily not broken, luggage was haphazardly spread throughout the room and Dark knew he had entered the wrong room. It was a mess! But... There was whimpering coming from the other side of the bed, and Dark made his way around the somewhat big piece of furniture to check it out...

Satoshi was sitting there, all but conscious, laying down on the floor next to the bed. Well... Lucky Daisue was asleep...

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You're lucky this chapter wasn't named "Nan Shou Desu ka?" 何章ですか？ But I remember now and I can put a proper title there. Oh. And I stopped looking up words, so all the titles from… I think the third chapter and beyond are actually from my memory. I've been doing this a lot, and maybe I should stop before my Japanese family yells at me. XD Na… I don't think they're capable of yelling... But I do wish they'd write me back even if my memory-written letter is a piece of crap. e.e They don't have to write in English! x.x

Sorry… Ranting.

Well… I'm super-close to breaking the 2000 word marker for my chapters. By the way, I go by the actual story- not with my comments included. I hope to reach over 2000 next time, but I don't know how I will yet...

And yes… I gave up on NaNoWriMo because... Well... I was without a computer for 3 whole days and that got me way off schedule, not to mention spending time with my other stories. Please take a look at them. - If not, well then… Okay… I'm going to continue my NaNo story, though, and see it through to the end. I'm just not going to devote every second to it.

I like it when people review...

--Chiisai Hito


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own D N Angel.

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危ない。悪が来ます。

Abunai. Aku ga Kimasu.

"Satoshi, what's wrong? C'mon! Wake up! Damnit... Daisuke's going to have a fit!" Dark had moved Satoshi's trembling body onto the bed and covered him with blankets. It looked like the worst case of shock Dark had ever seen. And Dark had been around for quite a long time.

'Dark? What's up? Stop screaming...' Daisuke said with a yawn. He hadn't really heard anything Dark had said, though.

'Daisuke, go back to sleep.' Dark was direct, his voice commanding and serious. Dark was _never_ serious.

'Why? What's wrong?' Daisuke asked, becoming slightly alarmed.

'Nothing. Go to sleep,' Dark said, trying to push Daisuke to the back of his min gently.

Daisuke didn't believe Dark, though. He took a peek out of Dark's eyes and saw Satoshi unconscious on the bed.

'Dark! What happened?' Daisuke was just about to yell at Dark for killing his friend.

'I don't know Daisuke. Just... Go back to sleep for a while.' Dark would never say this if he had something to do with Satoshi's current state.

'But Dark... What about Satoshi?'

'He'll be fine. I need you to sleep, though... Here, I'll put a spell on you. When you wake up, he'll be fine.' Dark really wished that this were true... Oh gods, let it be true... This was not supposed to happen.

'Dark?' Daisuke asked before being majicked.

'Don't worry...' Dark's voice trailed off, trying to be reassuring.

Daisuke fell to sleep in Dark's head.

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"_NO! Krad, don't come out! I can't let you!" Satoshi was trying his best not to scream and alert the other visitors to his fight with the being inside his mind. He was still in the bathroom and he was curled up on the floor, Krad could not be restrained for long, and after Satoshi had sat upon the floor for a while, regaining his strength, Krad returned to take control. _

'_Satoshi. You cannot hold on to this existence any longer. You will kill yourself,' Krad said, poking his way through Satoshi's barriers._

'_Kill myself?' Satoshi asked lightly, unable to really think while trying to erect more barriers for the demon inside of him._

'_Come now. Just let me have this body. It will stop your pain. I promise,' Krad said, pushing his way to the front of Satoshi's mind. Satoshi stifled a scream as black dots erupted in front of his eyes. _

'_No! I can't let that happen!' Satoshi thought heatedly, stumbling to his feet in a blind fury. _

'_Why not? You can save yourself from this pain! Why? Why...' Krad retreated slightly, only to push harder against Satoshi's last barrier._

"_No! I can't let you hurt anyone else! I promised myself!" Satoshi yelled out loud, stumbling out of the bathroom and into the bedroom of the hotel room. He tripped over Daisuke's suitcase and knocked all of the contents out on the floor. He accompanied them, falling on his side. He pushed himself up, nearly blind from his inward struggle. He was as bad as a drunk- his peripheral vision gone, his common sense evaporated, and his thoughts rash and violent._

_He began thrashing around in Daisuke's luggage, sending it flying everywhere around the room. After finding his footing, he stood shakily and stumbled into the bed. Leaning on it heavily, Krad made one last verbal attempt to gain dominance over Satoshi's body._

'_Satoshi. Give up. You can _never win_.'_

"_NO!" Satoshi threw the covers off of the bed and collapsed onto the floor in a fit. The lamp fell over and its cord was pulled out of the electrical socket with a spark of indignation. 'I can beat you... I can win this... Oh, please let me win... please...' Satoshi entered severe shock. His lips had a blue tint to them, his body was shaking uncontrollably, and his already low blood pressure dropped to dangerous lows. Satoshi became extremely cold, but he could do nothing to warm himself up. He had no strength to grab the comforters. His mind blacked out, and he left himself shivering on the floor beside the bed._

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"Damn it, wake up!" Dark said, pounding on the bed, and luckily, not Satoshi.

'You know... He won't wake up because you're yelling at him,' a feminine voice said from behind Dark. A very familiar-looking girl smiled at him happily.

"Miss Kubikazari, I suppose," Dark said, sobering up quite a bit.

'Correct. The boy is suffering from neurogenic shock. Get some pillows and pile them up to about 12 inches. Place them under his feet. Good. Does he have any tight clothing on?'

"Yeah..." Dark said apprehensively.

'Loosen them,' she said. Dark nearly refused, but was cut off by the necklace once more. 'I can feel his pulse. It's rapid, yet weak. Do you have any places where he can stay? He is in dire need of professional assistance. You hardly qualify,' the necklace said while Dark quirked an eyebrow in irritation.

"Sorry I don't qualify," Dark said, finishing the unbuttoning of Satoshi's shirt and laying the blanket back on top of him. "But I don't know how to read English, the phone book's the only thing that might help, and Daisuke's asleep. He won't wake up for a while."

'Then get someone to help,' the necklace stated bluntly. For such a nice person, she was mean.

"Fine," Dark said, shrinking down into Daisuke's body. The necklace raised an eyebrow in mild surprise, but let it pass. A boy was dying, and not just any boy... He so reminded her of the only boy that had once held her heart.

Dark fled the room as Daisuke, acting surprised and anxious all the while blubbering in Japanese. That is, after carefully hiding away the necklace in his pocket. He hoped that it wouldn't take long to get help, because he didn't think that it would be a good idea to leave such a critical-looking person alone.

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Soon enough, someone followed Dark/Daisuke to the room, called the hospital, and sent emergency vehicles zooming down the road to carry Satoshi away. Dark was taken aside by the police and they attempted to question him. The problem was, Dark didn't understand English very well. Nor did he really _like_ policemen. Not even Satoshi was an exception, though his tamer was certainly friendly with the blue-haired boy.

They were standing outside of the hospital, Dark in from of two officers- one male, one female. The male was a bit stocky with unruly, curly, brown hair and beady brown eyes. The female was thin with straight brown hair tied back into a precise bun. In fact, everything about her looked precise. Also, her eyes were narrow and cruel-looking.

Dark prodded Daisuke awake and pushed him into control causing Daisuke's body to lose itself slightly and nearly fall over with the dazed actual-Daisuke in control. Daisuke exclaimed a loud "Nani? Yami! Aku desu!" which made the investigators quirk an eyebrow in confusion. Daisuke finally noticed their presence and blushed very darkly. "_Ah... Sorry. Once more, please?" _Daisuke asked, yelling at Dark in his head.

"_So you do know English?"_ an investigator asked, raising his eyebrows so high that they nearly disappeared into his hair.

"_A... A little,"_ Daisuke said, tripping over himself a bit.

"_Just a few seconds ago you seemed to not know any," _the other said, crossing her arms in a rather offensive manner to Daisuke.

'Daisuke- what are they saying? They aren't looking too friendly,' Dark asked, uneasy with being so close to officers so soon after he had stolen the necklace.

'They're saying that they're surprised that I knew English and that I seemed to not know any at all,' Daisuke replied, putting on his thinking face so as to back up his coming statement.

'You're going to say that you have to think about it? Add that you were so shocked that you couldn't think to understand English, 'kay?' Dark said, sharing in a few of Daisuke's immediate thoughts.

"_I'm sorry. I still have to think bit to say things right. I have yet trouble. Also, was shocked that I could not think to understand." _Daisuke said breaking his English a little more than he normally would.

"_Hmm... All right. So how did this happen?" _the male officer said, leaning against his car.

"_I-i... I do not know, exactly," _Daisuke said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away.

"_Just tell us what you do know,"_ the female officer cut in, attempting to look friendly, but only freaking out Daisuke more. She couldn't smile very warmly, and with her naturally suspicious-looking eyes, it made her look as if she were up to something possibly deviant...

Daisuke told the officers all that Dark fed to him, Daisuke being the translator for both sides. Ack! This was so stressful!

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After Daisuke's questioning, he asked to go see his friend. The officers kindly gave him a ride to the hospital where Daisuke nearly burst out of the vehicle before it stopped in front of the doors. The officers started at him exasperatedly, but let him go as he was already inside the building. They stopped their car and followed him in so as to help persuade the hospital to allow Daisuke to see his friend for the moment and see how he was doing. By pure luck, the receptionist let him pass and he hurried off to the room indicated by the woman behind the desk. Room 268.

Daisuke, after being yelled at by a nurse to 1) get out, since visiting hours were over (quickly silenced by a written pass from the receptionist and police to allow him to visit his friend) and 2) slow down, he walked briskly to the room, and, once outside, stopped for a few seconds. He pushed the door open as carefully as he could and peered inside. Nothing much to look at. Stark white walls, a large window that looked out over a street, various medical devices and notifications, and uncomfortable looking bed made up the room. Satoshi was without a roommate, much to his luck. The boy was unconscious, though, and he had a breathing apparatus fastened over his mouth to prevent him from losing his breath permanently. His heart rate was also displayed on a monitor. He had an IV hooked up, the needle inserted just under the crook of his elbow. It was a sad sight to see. Daisuke walked up lightly to Satoshi as if he was in a light sleep and Daisuke didn't want to wake him. But Daisuke knew that Satoshi probably wouldn't wake up very soon. It was by luck that he seemed to be stabilizing. At least his heart rate didn't seem feathery any more.

Daisuke looked at the IV and remembered something from health class- a random tidbit. Shock was something that happened when body fluid was loss, right? Had Satoshi got a severe cut or something? No... There wasn't any blood that Daisuke remembered. Maybe internal bleeding?

'Dai... The necklace said that it was nuerogenic shock. Whatever that is,' Dark said, listening in on Daisuke's thoughts.

'Oh... Isn't that when there's damage to the nervous system? Isn't it also when the person suffers extreme personal tragedy or something?' Daisuke was really trying to understand what had happened to his very best friend. Not even Takeshi could hold a candle to him. Of course, Takeshi _did_ always make fun of Daisuke's clumsiness... And subsequently maim the boy... And laugh... Well... Yeah, Takeshi wasn't much of a best friend.

'Maybe,' Dark said, his voice telling Daisuke that he didn't really care.

'Dark?' Daisuke said, a revelation coming to him.

'Yeah?' Dark responded, jerking to attention from the tone of thought Daisuke used.

'Do you think... That maybe this was caused by Krad?'

'Probably,' Dark said, sinking back into his 'eh, whatever' mood.

'Then... I think it might be my fault.' Daisuke said, furrowing his brows.

'Why do you say that?' Dark said, attention snapping to once again.

'Because... Didn't he say that he liked me? What if... All this time he's been fighting Krad off and bottling it in and when we were out stealing, it all came out? Didn't he once say that he couldn't ever let anything become close to his heart? What if being so close to me has done this to him,' Daisuke said, whining in guilt.

'I think you're flattering yourself,' Dark said, smiling a little, but in the depths of his soul, thinking Daisuke may be right. 'Look... We have to leave.'

'Huh?' Daisuke said, confused.

'Yeah. Look, we stole the necklace, right? Well, they're going to be looking for it. We have to get out of here. Look, I can fly you across the water to get you to France. Once there, you can get on a plane and fly back to Japan. Chances are, they won't be looking for anyone there yet. I can get us there fast. But we have to leave as soon as possible,' Dark said, being almost as serious as he was when he found Satoshi nearly unconscious on the floor.

'B-but... What about Satoshi? We can't just lea-'

'Yeah, we can. He's going to have to stay here for a little while, right? Well, we have to go _now_. And if you need any more reason beyond that, didn't you say you thought the reason he's in this place was you, why take him with you and hurt him more?' Dark said, trying with all his might to convince Daisuke.

And it worked. 'Fine. Just... Let me tell him goodbye, okay?' Daisuke said, while Dark said something to the effect of 'he's unconscious, idiot!' Daisuke leaned over Satoshi's body and stroked his face. He slid his arms under Satoshi's body and embraced the boy for a little bit. Then he did something he probably really shouldn't have. He slipped Satoshi's breathing mask off Satoshi's face and placed his lips on the police commander's, happy that his breath was still steady through his nose. But when he licked the other's lips entreating entrance, he was greeting with nothing. Sighing sadly, Daisuke pulled away and slipped the masked back over his love interest's face.

Daisuke's heart fluttered with sad romance and his genes were triggered. His back arched unpleasantly as he grew a couple of inches. His hair rapidly extended and changed color. His eyes turned from a deep red to a dark purple. Soon, Dark's body stood over Satoshi, a frown on his face. Dark straightened up, having taken control, and sighed dejectedly.

"I told you he wouldn't respond," Dark said, running a hand through his hair. It did not please Dark to see that his host was unhappy. It consequently made _him_ unhappy for one, and two, Dark did actually care for the little redhead.

'Can you just say goodbye for me… I mean, actually say it,' Daisuke said, depressed that he transformed before he could say it himself.

'Alright…' Dark sighed.

"Hiwatari-san? Daisuke says goodbye... And so do I," Dark said quietly, bending over Satoshi slightly. "We have to go back to Japan now."

Dark straightened, feeling Daisuke's appreciation, and opened the window. "Wiz!" Dark said, holding out his had for the shape shifter. The creature came and attached itself to Dark's back, lifting the thief into the sky.

Daisuke and Dark set out for France at 1:07 AM.

Satoshi came to the next morning at 11:24, much to everyone's surprise, pulling the mask off of his face and touching his lips.

The first words out of his mouth once he came to were "Did they say... Goodbye?"

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A/N: FINALLY. FINALLY I have time to work on this. It was driving me CRAZY. You see, I can't very well work on this at school, and then after school, I have been having driver's ed. Also, I have dance, piano, teaching, and production practice. I have kind of worked on it in school, though, I guess. That's where I do my drafting. -smile-

I don't think this is going to take to many more chapters. This is my mini-climax. The best is yet to come. Or the worst. Depends who you are. Anyways, there's also going to be an epilogue, and I'm seriously considering a sequel. It depends on you, I suppose. But don't make your decision yet! Wait until after the epilogue, kay?

What do you think about this length/description-stuff-y-thing-y-yeah for chapters? I'm still getting a feel for how much I should write in each chapter, even though I've written 16 total. O.o -shrug- I'm a slow learner.

About shock. Yeah. It's that serious, if not even more so, if you had any doubts. I went into shock once. After I fractured my hip. It was a mixture of the mental shock of actually doing it, and of the personal tragedy that was my inability to dance again for a long, long time. The injury wasn't that bad- put me on pain medication that totally drugged me up. They kept me in the hospital for the shock, though. I had the IV, and people constantly checking in on me. They gave me about 20 blankets, as well. O.o Most of them were from my parents, though.

Anyways, please, please, PLEASE review. Is it really that hard to? 'Cause it really does make a difference in the speed that these chapters come out, you know.

Anyways. Thanks for reading. If you've stuck with me so far, in my opinion, you've been dragged through the slightly boring to reach the mildly exciting, and I applaud you for your tolerance. Bai bai, now.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Is my writing becoming boring or something? Hnn…

Disclaimer: ... Why would I need a disclaimer if I owned D N Angel? What? Would I write "Disclaimer: YES. I own D N Angel. I AM Yukiru Sugisaki." Yeah. Don't think so.

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うちもう一度です。

Uchi mou Ichido Desu.

Satoshi was released from the hospital that day. Not necessarily because the boy was feeling any better, but truly because said boy seemed about ready to bite the nurses' heads off. If he had enough strength to be icy, then he better damn well be feeling better.

Satoshi returned to the hotel, climbing the steps to his room. He was still a little dizzy, but he wouldn't let that deter him. He had to find out if Daisuke was waiting for him. Satoshi was sure that they had gone, but... What if he were wrong? Then he would leave a cute little redhead in a big city in a different country all alone. That wouldn't do.

Satoshi unlocked the hotel room and walked inside. It looked pretty clean.

The blue-haired one looked around for Daisuke's luggage. It wasn't anywhere inside the hotel room. Satoshi sat down on the chair again. Then, a piece of paper grabbed at his attention. It was sitting on the pillow with a little glass rose on top of it to weight it in place.

Satoshi stood back up and leaned over the bed to pick it up. He held the rose in between his fingers and stared at it for half a second, acknowledging the blue satin ribbon tied in a bow around the delicate stem. Where had this come from?

Satoshi then turned his attention to the paper, for there was something written on it.

_Satoshi,_

_We figured you would come back to the hotel at some point, so we left a note here. If we had left it at the hospital, they might have found it or something..._

Not that many could have read it. God, what sloppy writing. And it was in Japanese kana and Chinese character, so even if it were neatly scripted, most of the hospital staff wouldn't have been able to read it.

Anyways, we've left for Japan again. We need to get the necklace back home. I think we might be able to steal the ring now, so we'll try as soon as we can. Probably Tuesday, since this morning is Monday... I don't think that you will be able to come to school today. I'll probably get there late, but I'll figure out some excuse for that. I'll say you're sick, 'kay? I think they'll buy it since they know we talk a bit.

Well, we have to get going.

Love,

Daisuke

August 16

"Daisuke... You sometimes say the most unremarkable things as if they were the most important things... Or, as this case is, you write them," Satoshi said, folding up the piece of paper and pocketing it. "Good luck getting to school at all today, by the way..." He turned his attention back to the glass rose.

It was well made, Satoshi acknowledged, holding it up to the sunlight streaming in through the large window. The light gleamed off of the smooth edges and caught along the edges of the petals. It was very details- every line adding to the effect, not one that wasn't placed on a whim or by accident.

Satoshi set the flower back down upon the bed as he got his suitcase and laid it right next to the glass trinket. It was already neatly packed, but Satoshi would have to put the rose in it… And wrap it in a fashion so that it wouldn't break.

Satoshi unzipped the suitcase and took out a sweater to wrap the rose in. He did so carefully as to not break off the dainty leaf that branched off from the stem. It would be a miracle if it made it back to Japan without it breaking.

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Dark alighted upon the balcony outside their hotel room for the second time that night. Once again, Dark picked the lock to enter, and once again, Dark looked pityingly at the mess all around him.

'Dark? Can I have control again? It won't take too long, I promise, 'kay?' Daisuke asked once they were inside.

"Fine. But in 30 minutes, I'll take control forcibly," Dark replied, shrinking back into Daisuke. Right after Daisuke gained control of his body, he set about to cleaning up his clothes and packing them away as fast as he could.

Then something caught his eye.

The little glass rose that Kosuke has asked Daisuke to bring with them- just for luck.

Daisuke picked it up and stared at it while an idea formed in his head. Maybe this would be the way to let Satoshi know they weren't in England any more, because no doubt he hadn't heard them say goodbye.

Daisuke pulled out a pen and ripped a piece of stationary out of his half-packed bag. He set to writing a semi-small letter. Daisuke didn't have time to really think about what to write, so he wrote about whatever came to his immediate mind when thinking about their predicament. School, getting back, and the ring.

'Dai, hurry up. You have 10 more minutes to pack up.'

"Okay. One more second for this," Daisuke said as he retrieved a blue satin ribbon from his suitcase. God knows WHY he had a blue satin ribbon, but he did.

He neatly tied the ribbon onto the glass rose and carefully placed the note and the rose on the pillow. Daisuke then set out to finish packing before Dark's countdown ended and he took control again.

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Dark had gotten Daisuke to France before the sky was illuminated with the sun's first rays. Once his foot touched ground, Dark gave control over to Daisuke who promptly fell to the ground in surprise and exhaustion. They had finally arrived in Calais, France. Daisuke fell to sleep upon the ground, his luggage beside him until the sun finally did rise in the sky.

Grudgingly, Daisuke gave up his sleep to pursue the return to his hometown. With the mien of a drunkard, Daisuke stood and began to ask around for the nearest airport. And a ride.

Luckily, Daisuke finally found a taxi driver that would take him to an airport.

They conversed in English, since Daisuke did not know French and the driver did not know Japanese, and at the end of the ride, Daisuke paid in euros. Telling the cabby to keep the change, he ran off to the airport to snatch a plane to Japan.

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Daisuke grumbled under his breath about planes as he sunk lower in the very uncomfortable chair. Not only were they freakin' tight space-wise, they were loud.

And this time he didn't have Satoshi to kind-of take his mind off of the comfort-factor. At least last time he could look at the boy... Now all he had was a drooling baby on his shoulder and a sleeping mother next to him, so Daisuke couldn't push the baby off of him.

Joy was that little ball of red fluff when the baby decided to turn its stomach upside-down on top of him.

'Haha, Daisuke. I think it likes you,' Dark said, chuckling amusedly.

'Shut up Dark,' Daisuke thought back, growling angrily.

'Fine. That baby gave me something to revel in for a while, after all,' Dark said retreating into the back of Daisuke's head laughing all the way.

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

After riding on a plane to Tokyo, a train to his city, and a cab to his house, Daisuke arrived at his front door. Exhausted, he knocked at the door, cursing the fact that he had forgotten that it was later in the day here, so school was already out. No doubt his mother had called him in sick or something. It was a pity that he wouldn't be able to go through with what his letter to Satoshi said.

Daisuke knocked on the door, nearly crying with the relief of being back home. Emiko soon answered and took Daisuke up into a huge hug and called To-to to get Daisuke's bags.

"Did you get us a souvenir?" Emiko asked after the door was closed.

"Er, yeah.," Daisuke replied as they started up for his room. Kosuke and Daiki joined them for the recap of the trip.

"Why didn't you call us?" Emiko said, pouting.

"I didn't have time! Satoshi and I were plotting pretty much the whole time!" Daisuke responded exasperatedly.

"Speaking of the boy, he didn't do anything to you, did he? I can set an alligator on him if you want," Emiko said as they entered Daisuke's room. Daiki and Kosuke sat down, Kosuke on a chair, Daiki on Daisuke's bed. To-to had set Daisuke's suitcase at the foot of Daisuke's bed and had begun to put away Daisuke's clothes, humming all the while.

"Mom!" Daisuke exclaimed.

At the same time, Kosuke reprimanded his wife with an, "Emiko!"

"What? He's a creep! He's out to get my poor Dai-chan!" Emiko said as she tried to smother her 'poor Dai-chan' to death.

"Mom! He's not a creep! You let me go to England with him! Even you must kind-of like him!" Daisuke said as he wiggled out of Emiko's grasp. He sat down next to his grandfather, sighing.

"Oh. And you're never allowed to go on a trip with him EVER again. Do you know how scared I was that he would kill or capture you? You're lucky that I'm not pulling you out of that school of yours," Emiko said, wagging a finger at her son.

"Mom!"

"Well, let's see that necklace of yours, Daisuke," Daiki said stepping in front of Emiko, finally. Daisuke smiled gratefully. It wasn't that he hated his mother. It was that she was a bit... Crazy. And by a bit, Daisuke meant that she should be locked up in an asylum or something. But Daisuke loved his mother too much to wish that.

"Alright," Daisuke said as he unzipped his suitcase. He pulled out his prize and showed it to his parents and grandfather.

"Ah, Daisuke! It's lovely! I almost forgive you for going away with Satoshi!" Emiko exclaimed while Daisuke slapped his hand to his head. Emiko took it out of Daisuke's hand and held it up to the light inspecting its diamond and silvery design. "It is truly of the Hikari line," She finished, handing it to her father.

"Yes, it is indeed lovely. Now I think you can get that ring to go with it, right Kosuke, Emiko?" Daiki said, taking his turn in examining the work of art. Both of Daisuke's parents nodded and Daiki handed the necklace back to Daisuke.

"You want to see it Dad?" Daisuke asked, offering it to him.

"No, that's okay. We all have work to do, and you need to sleep. We'll leave you alone now, so get some rest," Kosuke said, smiling serenely up at his son before standing up and walking towards the door, Daiki, Emiko, and To-to following him out since To-to had finished unpacking for Daisuke.

Strains of "What should I make for dinner" and other small talk like that wafted in through Daisuke's closed door until the group was out of earshot. Only then did Daisuke collapse into his pillow and promptly fall to sleep.

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"Dai- honey. Wake up. Come on! You have school today."

"No! Don't leave me! Don't do this! You can find another way just don't leave me..."

"Daisuke, wake up!"

"I'm so sorry..."

"Daisuke! Don't make me let the dogs loose in here!"

"Wha? Mom?" Daisuke was finally awake.

"Geez, Dai, you scared me! I tried to wake you up nicely, but you wouldn't budge! You even slept 15 hours!" Emiko was sitting on her son's bed, holding him by the shoulders and shaking him until she pulled him into a hug.

"What's this about the dogs? Oh gods… Were you serious?" Daisuke asked, pulling out of his mother's embrace and jumping to his feet on the bed, ready to run away from the evil robot dog things.

"Not now. You're awake," Emiko said, pulling her son's arm down whilst smiling.

"Ah..." Daisuke said, slowly getting it... So his psycho mother would actually have set evil robot dog things on him whilst he slept?

"More good news-" Emiko started happily/

"Oh great..." Daisuke groaned, knowing that most of his mother's 'good news' usually involved a night of lost control over his body and another close shave with those pesky police.

"Now Dai... You know how much I love you," Emiko said, as if she were about to say something that would mentally wound Daisuke.

"Yeah. What with the traps you always set. You must love me to death." Daisuke really wanted to go back to sleep. Not that his dream was anything to want to go back to... What was it again? Hnnn...

"I'll have no sarcasm in this house! You're going back for the ring after school today. No 'if's 'and's or 'but's, okay?" Emiko said, standing up and heading for the door. "Oh, and you have 1 second to get dressed and downstairs. Starting... NOW!" Daisuke yelped and got out of bed in a flurry of clothes and bed sheets.

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

It was a day of... Blah. That perfectly described ANY day of school, and since Satoshi still hadn't come, Daisuke ate lunch with Takeshi and had to listen to his friend's dreams of being a reporter and tracking Dark and about Dark's notice to capture that ring after he had failed. Yes failed. And Daisuke wouldn't hear the end of that.

"What? Dark couldn't even get the ring once! He's going to try again? Ha! He's gotten so rusty! We'll catch him this time for sure!"

It made both Dark and Daisuke sick.

Nothing else of importance happened that day... Classes, after-school cleaning, and the trip home. They were all the same. Even the routine that Daisuke was currently going through was routine for any night he let Dark out. He changed into whatever his mother cooked up for Dark, thought about his sacred maiden... Er... Satoshi (Though that was a recent change in the routine)... And changed into the phantom thief.

With the 411 given to him by Daiki, Dark was ready to go steal him a ring. Again.

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A/N: I have to think that there is only one more real chapter and an epilogue. So I'll ask you right now, since I'll probably not want to mar my last two posts with ugly little author notes, what do you think about a sequel. But I ask you not to answer until after the epilogue.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday, and I hope everyone will have a good new year's day as well as a good new year after that.

Anyways, I love you all. Thanks for reading. This is probably the last time I will say something in my voice in this story.

So REVIEW DAMNIT.

Thank you. -happy face-


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own D N Angel.

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さようなら。愛しています。

Sayounara. Aishite Imasu.

Satoshi had arrived in Japan 6:00 AM Tuesday in time to get a phone call from Inspector Saehara concerning Dark's next theft. It was quite funny, actually, stepping into the apartment, taking off his shoes, setting down his suitcase, and having the phone ring in quick succession.

After getting the information needed about that day's theft (most of which Satoshi already knew), Satoshi set the phone down in its cradle and walked to his bedroom to unpack.

'Satoshi... What are you planning,' a very laid-back Krad asked, poking curiously to the top of Satoshi's thoughts.

'Nothing, what are you talking about?' Satoshi replied coolly, unzipping his suitcase. He began taking out clothes and throwing them into a laundry basket nearby.

'You've been hiding something from me with extreme care There is a corner of your consciousness that you have set countless mental barriers around. I want to know what you're planning now,' Krad said, his voice sounding much like that of a mother scolding a child.

'Hmm... Well, does that mean you can't break down the barriers?' Satoshi asked, finally confirming the fact he had something that he didn't want Krad to see.

'No, of course not,' Krad said lazily. 'I just don't want to bother myself with so many petty barriers...'

'So you decided to ask me? Did you really think that would work?' Satoshi asked, laughing without a smile. Krad didn't respond.

"Crap..." Satoshi said as he pulled his finger out of his suitcase and promptly stuck it in his mouth. Broken glass? "Crap! The rose... It broke. I wanted to return it to Niwa."

'Niwa... That's all you ever think of. And the word tied with that name... "Love",' Krad spat out the word as if it were poison. 'What does "love" do for one anyways?'

'It gives a reason to enjoy life,' Satoshi said blandly.

'And yet it can hurt you. Why feel something that would make you weak? Why have a heart when it keeps you from strength?'

'Because a heart lets you know if what you're doing is right. It lets you care for someone and be cared for by someone. It can allow you the opportunity for eternal happiness,' Satoshi said, lowering his eyes.

'So, You're hiding whatever you're hiding from me because it's "right", am I correct?' Krad said, ever intelligent.

'Yes.'

,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,,.--.,

Satoshi pushed Krad to the back of his mind once more, and felt a headache starting.

He put a band-aid on his finger that he had cut and contemplated methods of getting the glass out of his suitcase without losing more blood. He _had_ just been in shock- the body's way for making up for loss of body fluids (Though what body fluid he 'lost' he was unsure of. Shock is a funny thing).

He decided just to pick the shards of the glass rose up carefully... It wasn't as if he could sweep them up, after all. They were in his suitcase.

Satoshi set to the task, thinking all the while.

'I don't know if what I'm about to do is really 'right', though... I may be being selfish... I may hurt myself beyond repair. I _will _hurt myself beyond repair... But most important, I might hurt Daisuke... I... I don't want to do this, and my heart's torn in two. How can I do this? But also... How can I not? I have a duty to do as a Hikari, but what if another duty of my family opposes that duty? Which is the more important?'

Satoshi held up the leaf from the rose that had miraculously stayed in one piece to the light and looked at it, twirling it this way and that, watching the light glint off of it.

"I'm going to do it."

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"Hello, Dark," Satoshi said as Dark stepped out of the shadows. Satoshi was leaning against the wall next to the entrance to the room that held the Kurushimi no Yubiwa. A shadow ran across his face, hiding everything higher then the tip of his nose.

"I see you made it back," Dark replied, smirking. He had stopped 5 feet from the commander in a fighting stance.

"It was easy enough. Since you had the necklace and all," Satoshi said, mirroring Dark's smirk.

"Hnn... I thought you were going to let us have this one," Dark said, suspiciously. He dropped his smirk.

"Oh, I am... Just... Let Daisuke out, please," Satoshi said pushing his weight off the wall. Something on his cheek glistened in the dim light... But Dark couldn't see it well.

"F-fine... I'm standing watch, though." Dark stuttered, caught off guard by the request.

"Whatever," Satoshi said, pushing a strand of hair out of his eyes.

Dark turned into Daisuke and the red head shook his head lightly. "Hnn? Satoshi? What's up? Why am I out?"

"I asked for you," Satoshi's voice broke. Now Daisuke could see it. Satoshi was crying.

"Satoshi! What's wrong! Are you hurt?" Daisuke said, running over to Satoshi and grabbing hold of the taller boy's arms.

"Shh, Daisuke. I'm sorry..." Satoshi put a finger against Daisuke's lips. It didn't work though, since Daisuke continued talking against them.

"What? For what?"

"For... I guess for leading you on... I-I knew I couldn't have you, but I tried so hard," Satoshi's breath caught a little and he paused before he went on. "I think... Did I...? I'm sorry if I led you on. I thought I could have you... But I knew I couldn't," Satoshi stopped making sense and grabbed onto Daisuke's arms and buried his head in the curve of Daisuke's neck. Daisuke could feel the other's tears against his skin and it chilled him in a very, very bad way.

"Satoshi? What are you saying? Satoshi! I'm right here! For you..." Daisuke was trying to comfort the other boy.

"No! Don't say that!" Satoshi jerked his head upward to look Daisuke in the face; he had an angry look in his eyes.

"What are you talking about Satoshi? You make no sense..."

"Ha. You'll just have to... Find out what I mean." Satoshi said, wiping a tear and hiccupping.

"You're scaring me..." Daisuke trailed off, his eyebrows knitted in worry.

"I-I'm sorry... But if I told you..." Satoshi trailed off as well, shaking slightly. Then Satoshi pulled Daisuke to him in a protective grasp. "I have to do this..." Satoshi said, more to himself than Daisuke.

"You don't have to do anything, Satoshi! What's wrong with you? Are you okay? Seriously!" Daisuke pushed himself away from Satoshi, his face now angry. It hurt Satoshi to see Daisuke look that way at him... But it was for the best...

Only... Satoshi wanted to feel Daisuke's lips against his own one more time... Embrace the little redhead just one second longer... Then maybe he would be able to do this...

But what about Daisuke? How would he feel... to have felt something and have it ripped out of him, slowly, painfully.

"I-if I had to leave... Would you kiss me goodbye?" Satoshi asked, straightening and clearing his voice. He looked less like the pathetic, crying person of a few seconds ago, and more like the Satoshi that Daisuke knew from school, thefts, and everywhere else.

"Y-yes..." Daisuke said, becoming somber with Satoshi's question. Would Satoshi really leave him? Where would he go? Daisuke thought that Satoshi's whole existence was centered on capturing Dark. When had that changed?

"Thank you..." Satoshi leaned forward and placed his lips on Daisuke's. Daisuke, even with his suspicion, was shocked, and stiffened. Daisuke pulled away slightly.

"Does this mean... That you're leaving me?" Daisuke asked against Satoshi's lips.

"I'm sorry..." Satoshi responded, and, with tears gathering in Daisuke's eyes, the redhead initiated the kiss once more, waiting for Satoshi to either pull away or deepen the kiss.

Satoshi, of course, did the latter. Holding Daisuke closer, he nibbled lightly on Daisuke's lower lip, and Daisuke gladly opened his mouth. Satoshi didn't enter right away, though... He was content with nibbling on the other's lip.

He finally entered and he moaned at the pleasure. He swept his tongue across Daisuke's and felt it dance to life. Ah... The taste of his love... How he wanted more.

Their tongues danced and they stayed like that, breaking only for air, for 3 minutes, until Satoshi convinced himself that it was enough. That he should do what he came for.

Pushing Daisuke away from him and looking at the floor, Satoshi said, "Do you know that I will no longer be attending school?"

"N-no," Daisuke said. Satoshi backed away slightly, brows knitted.

"You do now..." Satoshi said, laughing without a smile. Laughing painfully. He put his arm behind his back and suddenly a thick glass wall separated Daisuke and Satoshi. Satoshi pulled a necklace out of his pocket, and Daisuke stared in disbelief.

"How'd you get that?" Daisuke yelled through the glass. The Chiryou no Kubikazari. Satoshi couldn't hear Daisuke, though.

'He swiped it while you two were sucking each other's tonsils out,' Dark said, scathingly. He had a whole new reason to hate the commander. Not only did he try to capture them constantly, but he also helped them steal something to steal it for himself when he was going to let them keep it!

"What? Satoshi wouldn't do that!" Daisuke insisted, shaking his head.

'Then how does he have the necklace you idiot!' Dark was livid, yelling at Daisuke when all he really wanted was to bash Satoshi's head in. He took control of Daisuke's body and ran to the wall of glass to break through, but only bouncing off for its thickness.

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Satoshi turned his back on Daisuke since he had shown the boy the necklace he had swiped while they kissed. It was time to get this over with. He wiped one more tear as he walked up to the ring, glinting angrily in the dim lighting. A flash of light filled the room, blinding both Satoshi and Dark and the ring's spirit stood atop the glass case that held its physical image.

'Where is my sister?' it asked, glaring angrily at Satoshi.

"I have her here," Satoshi responding, holding out the necklace. Another flash illuminated the room and a doppelganger of the ring's spirit stood in front of Satoshi. The two images held their arms out to hug each other and stepped towards each other, the ring-spirit jumping from the case on which it was perched. But... They passed through each other, unable to touch.

"You can't touch," Satoshi said, being ever-the-obvious one. "You may be able to interact with humans occasionally, but as two spirits... You are unable to touch each other. You should know that."

'Then... What can we do?' the necklace-spirit asked, turning to Satoshi, her eyes gleaming with tears. It had been so long... How awful it was to be unable to hold her sister close again after over a century.

"I... I can help you," Satoshi said, his eyes glassy with oncoming tears once more.

'What are you going to do?' The ring-spirit asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to give you my souls."

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'Dark! I don't think you're going to break the glass! It's too thick,' Daisuke said, wincing mentally every time Dark made contact with the glass. The thief backed up again and ran into the glass one last time before sliding to the ground.

"I know... But I can't do anything else. I didn't see any way to raise this wall out here on this side... And he's done this at every entrance to the room. No doubt he has the air ducts and everything else rigged too."

'So just wait and watch,' Daisuke offered, intending to do that himself.

'I'll let you take over, then,' Dark thought as he shrunk down into Daisuke again. Daisuke opened his eyes and felt the shoulder that Dark had used to bang against the glass how many times. There was a lovely bruise forming there.

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'Don't do that for us! It's not worth it!'

'Besides, you only have one soul... It will be torn apart and irreversibly damaged.'

The ring-spirit and the necklace-spirit felt happy to be together once more. Even if it was perhaps temporary. Perhaps emptier than wanted.

"I have a curse inside of me. A curse that is a soul itself, albeit a very dark soul. This would help me as you... And now since you know, please help us all out... Take my souls and ensnare them in those trinkets you call your physical images. My curse shall try anything to stop it an-" Satoshi was cut short as he felt a burning-hot sensation in his chest. "He's coming. Hurry and take them!" The boy fell to the ground in extreme pain, trying his hardest to give the two enough time to get started.

The two sisters looked at each other and nodded. If he wanted to be trapped in these pieces of jewelry for all eternity, then why not? 'So... Our freedom for your soul and the separation between you and your curse for our place?'

"Yes," Satoshi wheezed out as he heard the necklace-spirit's footsteps near him. The necklace-spirit lifted the boy's chin up and looked into golden eyes. That was odd...

"Miss... I shall ask you to step away from me," Krad's voice rang out clear and melodious- much like a golden bell.

'You have given me permission to exchange your soul for my freedom. I have an oral contract with your other self that I intend to see through to the end,' the necklace-spirit said in her stately manner. Krad's eyes widened and he stood to full height angrily. So _this_ is what that boy was planning? To rid himself of his 'curse'? A powerful blast of air triggered by his anger shot out across the room and the soud of shattering glass- the tinkle of thin case-glass accompanied by the deep and booming shattering of thick industrial glass- resonated throughout the museum causing guards on the outside to shutter and wonder if they should enter.

"Police Commander Hiwatari ordered us not to enter under any circumstance... He should be fine," Inspector Saehara told his troops, though obviously shaken himself.

Back in the museum room, the necklace stood stock-straight, unable to feel the gust of wind thrown with anger. Krad looked at her dumbfounded long enough for the necklace to place her lips firmly on Krad's. She stunned the angel and pulled the his soul out with her spirit's gravity, feeling herself disintegrate into nothingness as Krad took her place, and Krad, not used to being trapped inside another work of art, was unable to sustain the spirit-image that the previous spirit-of-the-necklace had utilized. The ring-spirit, left then with an unconscious Satoshi, knelt down before the boy and lifted his body onto her knees. She bent down and placed her lips on the blue-haired boy's and pulled his soul out as well.

'I'm so sorry, Daisuke...' Satoshi said just as he felt his soul leaving his body.

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Daisuke picked himself up off the floor, looking at the blood under his hands... There was so much. Why was there so much blood? Where was he?

Daisuke looked around and saw a bunch of broken glass on the floor, so much that the floor was practically covered with the sharp matter. That must be why there's so much blood on the floor.

The redhead then looked up further to find out where he was... It looked like the museum...

And that's when everything hit him. Satoshi waiting for Dark, Satoshi kissing Daisuke, Satoshi blocking Daisuke out, Satoshi talking to the ring and necklace spirits, and then something that broke the glass that even Dark could not break.

So... Where was Satoshi?

Daisuke stood up and staggered into the room that held the ring. There, on the floor, lay Satoshi. Daisuke knelt down beside the body and placed two fingers on the side of Satoshi's neck. There was a pulse. What about breathing? His chest was moving up and down... So that means he's breathing right?

Daisuke shook Satoshi's shoulder lightly. "Satoshi? Satoshi? Are you okay? Answer me..."

But there was no answer, and Daisuke began to freak out. "Dark? Is Satoshi okay?"

'Daisuke... I don't think you're going to like what I'm going to say...' Dark said, clearly upset.

"Why?"

'Because... I think your friend just sealed himself into the ring.'

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Dark took control once more to carry Satoshi out to the police troops. He opened the door, his wings ready to take flight, set the commander down, and forcefully pushed his wings downwards in an attempt to gain air as quick as possible. The police squad just stared in disbelief, for never had they seen a very cut-up Dark who looked as if he had lost too much blood, nor had they ever seen an unconscious Satoshi. Inspector Saehara finally ran up to Satoshi, noted his condition, and called the local emergency number to get an ambulance down there right away.

Inspector Saehara, trained in CPR, AED, and in giving oxygen, got down on his knees, and began rescue breathing right away, since Satoshi had stopped breathing. 5 rounds of rescue breathing... Check for a pulse... Still there, good. 5 more rounds... Check for a pulse...

Inspector Saehara put one hand on top of the other, furrowing his brow as he set the heel of his palm in the middle of Satoshi's chest and began CPR with 30 chest compressions. He could feel the ribs breaking under his forceful thrusting, but he needed to get oxygenated blood pumping throughout Satoshi's body. He finished the 30 and gave 2 rescue breaths, continuing the cycle until the Emergency Medical Squad came and took Satoshi away in an ambulance.

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"Take him off," a disgruntled Kei Hiwatari said as he stood up from the meeting in the hospital room where his 'son' lay brain-dead.

"Sir?" Not once had the doctor ever heard a father tell him to kill his son, even when that would be the smartest thing to do. Rather, the cheapest.

"Take him off. He won't get better, even you said. So just take him off," Kei turned to leave the room, livid that his tool to catch dark was now dead to the world.

The doctor shrugged, confused at Kei's behavior as he stepped to the side of the hospital bed and removed Satoshi Hiwatari's feeding tube.

"Sorry, son... Even though you're mentally dead now, I feel bad for you having had a father like that."

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Daisuke read the article in the news, 'Police Commander Satoshi Hiwatari has been taken off life-support'.

For days he neither ate, nor did he sleep, and he absolutely refused to go to school.

The only things he would say were, "But... I loved him..."

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'Daisuke, you have to face the facts,' Dark tried for the umpteenth time to get Daisuke to listen to him. He was met with silence.

'Daisuke... You're going to kill yourself if you continue to act this way,' Dark said, scolding-like. Daisuke's head shot up, though as if he got a sudden idea. 'Holy crap, Daisuke. Don't you _dare_ kill yourself. I'll kill you again.'

"Dark... What if... You said he sealed himself in the ring, right? What if he can still talk to me? Do you think he could?"

'Maybe, why don't you get the ring and necklace up here, then.'

Daisuke began to sleep with the ring on his finger and the necklace in his other hand. He had the two with him constantly, trying to figure out how to get Satoshi out.

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_**My Dearest, Daisuke**,_

_I am so sorry for doing this. I regret this more than anything I have ever done in my life. I will never ask you to forgive me, for I cannot even forgive myself._

_I know that I am dead and that I can never return to my natural body ever again._

_I am also sorry that it took me so long to figure out how to project a form of myself into the human plane. As luck has it, I figured it out while you sleep, so I am leaving you this letter._

_I can feel myself losing strength already, but I must tell you this: I am in the ring, Krad, in the necklace. Seal the necklace as tightly as you can- Get your family to help. I know that he will soon figure out how to project his form and he will use that to harm you. I cannot bear to see you harmed more. _

_As my closing statement, know that I will always be with you if you'll have me. I will always be in the ring, and you posses me. Where you take the ring, you take me, so, if you desire, you shall never be lonely again._

_Know that I love you more than life itself. Know that I love you more than anything death can give._

_With the most sincerity, _

_**Satoshi Hikari**_


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Should we tell him that there's no one there?" a nurse said as he passed a room. They stopped just beyond it.

"Why? He's perfectly content with whatever he's conversing with. It's not frightening him, and he's a dying man. Why should we, practically strangers, try to take his last comfort away?" the doctor said to the nurse. The patient was indeed dying of heart problems, at the ripe old age of 87.

"He has no family to help him through this?"

"None that I have seen." The doctor and nurse walked away, the nurse slightly perplexed at this new way of seeing the old man's madness.

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'Sit back down, Daisuke,' Satoshi said, standing behind the aged Daisuke. Everyone else that they knew had moved or had already died. Daisuke now resided in a hospital for the fact that he had no family left to take care of him, and his heart required constant supervision.

It pained Satoshi to see Daisuke grow so old... So feeble... From the contrast of knowing him as a teen... an adult... Strong and stable. No more, as the image in front of him clearly stated.

"I'm dying, Satoshi, I'm dying. It doesn't matter what I do now. I could jump out the window for all it mattered," Daisuke responded at he turned around. His hair had turned white, his face crinkly, and his eyes slightly less vibrant.

What hurt Satoshi the most was that he was unable to grow old with his love.

'You should at least be comfortable when you die,' Satoshi said, practically floating in front of Daisuke, his eyes insistent and skillfully hiding the pain he was feeling.

Daisuke's eyes, however, clearly showed the pain he was feeling, and Daisuke was an expert at reading Satoshi's face and seeing things no stranger ever would. "I'm so sorry for growing up..."

'No, you can't help it. You're human. Humans grow.' Daisuke finally sat down in one of the guest chairs that never got filled, save for a spirit of a friend and a ring.

"But you're human, too," Daisuke insisted.

'Not anymore. I'm dead remember? I'm the spirit of one of my ancestor's works of art,' Satoshi responded, dolefully. He perched himself on the arm of the chair and caressed his love's face sadly.

"You won't be there when I die..."

'No.'

"And you won't come for me?"

'I will do that. I'll bend as many rules as I can, do more than any other thing can, and I will come to be with you forever,' Satoshi said, wrapping his arms around Daisuke's neck.

"I'm holding you to that promise," Daisuke said, leaning his head on Satoshi's chest.

'You don't have to worry bout me breaking it. Wait for me, okay?'

"I will," Daisuke said. Daisuke closed his eyes and Satoshi stroked the man's hair soothingly. Satoshi listened to Daisuke's breaths against his chest, feeling them grow weaker and then… They stopped…

Satoshi felt his chest tighten as he looked at his dead friend. The friend that had seen him through life and even all of his death as of that moment. The friend that he intended to do the same for.

'I love you more that you could ever imagine, Daisuke. I will come for you someday, don't worry.'

Tears fell on top of Daisuke's head, and Satoshi pushed his friend's body into a position that would hold Daisuke up once Satoshi moved.

Satoshi stood, walked to the window, and looked out.

'My nightmare begins,' Satoshi said as he dissipated from the material world and returned to the ring.

_**The End**_


End file.
